I'll Leave the Door Open
by Miss Soupy
Summary: Ever since Ed disappeared Winry hasn't felt whole. She gets a job with the military in hopes of finding him, but how far is she willing to go to bring Ed back to her and Al? Eventual EdWinry Rated M for safety
1. Minds Eye

A/N: This is my first attempt at a multichapter fic, usually I just write oneshots but I'm trying to break out of that box with this fic. A few notes about this story: its a bit fantasy, as you'll see, but I'm trying to keep it sorta in context and it will serve its purpose in the end.

The setting is after the anime, but doesn't follow the movie. I honestly haven't seen the movie, so I'll be taking my own road when it comes to that. This is eventual Ed/Win. Sorry, I just don't like the fact that they didn't get together in the end, so I'm taking things into my own hands! haha Also, if you don't like Winry, you probably won't like this fic because she has a big part (obviously). Oh yeah, and this is rated M for safety.

Disclaimer: i don't own FMA

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I'll Leave the Door Open

Ch. 1: Minds Eye

Winry Rockbell sat gloomily at her desk, lazily flipping through a large stack of papers that sat before her. Most of them were reports of misuse of various metals, ranging from tin, to bronze, to gold and silver, not to mention her own specialty, automail. Her palms itched to feel the soothing metal in her fingers again, but as of late she had found it entirely impossible to find time away to tinker.

She had brought this upon herself, she reasoned. Three months ago she had finally gotten fed up waiting around home for something to happen, and had ventured out to try her own hand at getting back what had been taken from her.

The sign of her around the military base had shocked many, but most thought with approval she had eased into this life rather quickly and it was almost as if she had always been there. Being a dog of the military would serve its purpose, she thought desperately, as long as she got Edward back, what did it matter what her service was used for?

Edward. She sighed sadly, her eyes unfocusing on the report she held in her pale fingers. It had been three years since he had disappeared, leaving no trace of where he went. The only one who could possibly have some idea of what had happened to him had lost any memory of his existence.

Winry had been ecstatic when she saw Alphonse had gotten his body back. The sad reality of it however, was he had forgotten everything that had happened since being stuck in a suit of armor. His body was exactly the way it had been before he and his brother had performed that fateful alchemy that day so long ago. But that left everyone with many unanswered questions, most importantly: where was Edward Elric?

Winry's thin mouth turned down a frown, her delicate brows furrowed and her face reddened slightly. It was just like Edward, to leave everyone behind worried, wondering if he was safe, if he would return. Nothing was ever simple with him. She shook her head, feeling her anger once again flare up. This always happened when she thought about him. She got angry and then later regretted it. She was here for him after all, she had vowed to do everything in her power to find him. This is what she had told Roy Mustang as well, who had given her a good job dealing with things she loved. She was grateful to the man, who allowed her the use of military resources to search for clues.

She smiled to herself, thinking of what would have been Ed's reaction to her working with his sworn enemy. Most of the time, however, Roy was too busy to be of much help, or perhaps he just kept back what he knew.

Grumbling, Winry tried again to focus on her reports. She worked for a while longer before increasing amounts of yawning told her she had better stop. Shuffling a stack of papers together, she set them in her workbag. Maybe she'd get more done at home, if she could somehow regain her focus. After gathering up her things, Winry switched off her lamp and exited her office, securely locking the door behind her.

Instead of heading straight out of headquarters however, she took a detour down a side hall where the workrooms were located. At the very end was the door to her private workroom, which she paused before. On the door was a taped note which she quickly pulled away and began to read.

_W. Rockbell_

_We've come across an unidentifiable metal recently when we caught some pirates distributing illegal contraband across the country. I need you to write up a report about any suspicious attributes the metal might have so we can further identify it. I'd like you to do the preliminary look-over of this substance before it is handed off to trained alchemists (as you know it gets extremely complicated with alchemists, which is why I'd like you to look at it first)._

Winry nodded to herself, chuckling slightly. She knew how true that statement was.

She read on: _I know you are busy, but I'd like you to do this at top priority. I left the package on your worktable._

_Signed,_

_Fuhrer Roy Mustang_

At the bottom was the official stamp of the Fuhrer, making the letter authentic, not that she thought otherwise. Winry absentmindedly pulled her hair in frustration; so much for an early night away. She considered just leaving, and later using the excuse she hadn't stopped by her workroom before she left, but decided against it. She owed Roy, and she didn't like to owe people.

The flame alchemist and now Fuhrer had gone out of his way to find her a good job at the military. She got to do things she enjoyed, from working on automail parts for people in need, to developing new techniques at making it, to learning about a variety of other metals and how to mold them to suit her, she was truly happy to have such a job. She felt she owed Roy Mustang her best, and that's what she would give him.

Resigned, she tucked the letter in her bag and unlocked her workroom door. Hitting the light switch on the wall, the blonde mechanic descended the stairs of her small, yet cozy room, not before closing her door securely behind her. Reaching the bottom of her stair she glanced around at the littered worktable. Tiny metal artifacts and loose sheets of papered were sprawled around varies corners of the room and the single light cast eerie shadows into areas it couldn't reach with its soft glow.

A spot had been cleared on the large table before her and upon it lay a large wooden crate. Grabbing a crowbar from a nearby shelf, she took about the task of retrieving her assignment from the box. She pulled out the wrapped up metal and laid it out on her table, then set the crate aside. Putting on some rubber gloves, she carefully extracted the paper away from the metal, and looked it over.

It was a white, steel like solid, which had an abnormal shimmer to it. But the strange thing she noticed, was its dough like qualities. Instead of being a solid bar or rod, it was just, well, a lump. She found, like clay, she could mold it into certain shapes, and it would stay that way.

Taking out a notebook, she began writing down certain properties of the metal, its color, weight (she quickly weighed it on her scale), and any other useful information she noted. From what she could tell, there really wasn't anything all that spectacular or abnormal about this metal, and didn't see why it would be considered worthy of pirating.

Winry yawned. She was quickly growing bored with the task at hand and soon, though for no apparent reason, found herself feeling around one of her drawers when her hand brushed a long box. Hesitating, she pulled it out and made room for it on her desk. Her fingers trembled as she ran them across its dusty surface, and her heart quickened.

Eventually her fingers found the latch, and the box sprung open. In the box lay a metal arm. It was small, seemingly fit for a child, and it was broken and cracked in a few places.

She ran her fingers across the smooth, cold surface of the automail arm as memories flooded back to her. Memories of a boy with intelligent golden eyes, eyes that seemed so much mature than he should have been. Winry remembered the very first automail arm she had had to make for the boy, who had barely survived an alchemic ordeal when he and his brother tried to bring their dead mother back to life.

The arm that lay before her, she recalled, was one which he first realized he no longer needed a transmutation circle. It had been damaged beyond repair sometime along his travels, and it was the last piece of him she had left.

The young woman dropped her head sadly and clutched the automail arm to her chest as it rose and fell with dry sobs.

"You deserved a better life," she spoke quietly to the empty room, as a tear rolled slowly down her cheek. "You promised I'd shed tears of joy."

She trembled with anger and anguish as her voice rose in intensity.

"You promised me! You promised everything would be alright! That we could be a family again!" Her tremors increased, and she raised her head, her face flush with fury as she stared down at the arm, yet the tears continued to fall.

"You promised me and I believed you! You promised me Edward…you promised…" By the end her voice was no more than a whisper.

Her chest constricted with heartache. Quickly, she reached out for a pan she used for melting and through the arm in it, then slammed it into her oven. She knew automail's melting point by heart, and quickly turned the oven to such a temperature she knew the arm wouldn't survive in. Once done, she felt all her energy was spent, and crashed down into her chair, her breathing coming in gasps. Winry shut her eyes tightly and forced herself to take slow breaths, in hopes of settling her frazzled nerves.

_What am I doing?_ she inwardly chided herself. _I'm acting like a child! _

She sighed and brushed her blonde hair out of her face, as feelings of sadness washed over her now much calmer body.

_I can't keep living in the past, I have to… move forward. _

Determination flooded in her eyes briefly, and she gripped her hands into tight fists until she felt her nails digging into her delicate skin.

_It's not like Edward expected he would just…disappear like that. It can't be what he wanted…_

After a few more minutes, Winry felt much more relaxed and decided she should take out the automail from the oven.

She put her large, fire proof oven mitts over her rubber gloves and turned the dial down. Pulling open the oven door, Winry was met with steamy air. The once solid automail arm was reduced to a smooth, shiny liquid.

Carefully, the mechanic reached in and pulled the pan out of the oven. The thick, viscous liquid sloshed around slightly, and she moved her body slowly to avoid spilling. Turning her body, she moved a careful step forward, on her way back to her worktable where she would leave the metal to cool for awhile. But it wasn't the hard level floor her foot hit, as she had expected it to be, but instead hit the round handle of a hammer that was left lying on the floor.

Winry lurched forward in a reflexive move to try and regain her balance. The pan tipped forward and her crystal blue eyes opened wide with horror. The liquid pool of metal splashed up and over the rim of the pan, and went cascading downwards towards her worktable.

Actually, in the end, the metal didn't even touch the table. Instead, it all landed smack dab on Winry's mystery metal. Winry could only look on in horror, her mouth wide open in a silent scream and her eyes wide as saucers as she watched in slow motion as the liquid metal descended towards the unsuspecting glob sitting on her worktable.

Upon impact she turned her head away, shutting her eyes tightly. Only when her lungs began to burn did she finally remember to breathe. She blinked a few times, and couldn't stop the feeling of certain dread as she slowly turned her head to survey the damage.

A strange scene met her eyes, and she wondered for a moment if anything had really happened at all. There sat the, seemingly impervious, lump of solid with no evidence of the disaster that she was sure had occurred.

"I must be really luck--" she began wiping sweat from her forehead, but froze when something bright caught her eye.

A flash of light had caught her eye, and she thought it had come from the lump. The blonde blinked a few times in confusion, then disregarded the thought as she set the pan with what remained of the liquid automail down on the worktable to the side of her assignment. Blue illumination flashed against the walls, drawing her eyes back to the lump, and her heart began pounding furiously.

"What in the world is going on!" She whispered a bit shakily, staring wide eyed at the source of the light.

FLASH!

Winry covered her eyes slightly, but didn't look away this time as she saw a spark of what she guessed was blue lightning jump out of the lump, skip across its surface, then dive back down into the mass. Sweat rolled down Winry's cheek as she tried to make more sense of what was going on. Her mind could only grasp one possibility: that this was some side effect of it mixing with automail. Her eyes followed another spark dance across the surface, only to disappear into the solid once more.

Experimentally, Winry once more brought the pan of liquid automail over to the unknown lump and poured a small amount onto its surface. The lump seemed to soak up the liquid metal, and soon the darker color of the automail disappeared altogether from the surface.

"Well that's really odd," Winry commented dryly.

She cast her sight down to the contents of her pan, then back to the light silver glop just sitting there, and then shrugged.

"Not like I'll be using this anymore anyways," was her final comment before unceremoniously spilling the rest of the melted automail onto her unknown.

As it was added, it was quickly soaked up by the solid, leaving no trace of liquid anywhere.

"That's a neat trick, but I wonder why it does that," she thought aloud, setting the pan aside.

She moved to make a note of this strange behavior when the room was illuminated by the brightest blue flash yet. Many tiny sparks of lighting were now jumping across the mass of metal, diving into it then back out at a greater velocity than before. But now the lump wasn't just sparking, but it seemed to be boiling. Bubbles of varies sizes appeared on its surface, swelling up to a decent size, then exploding.

Winry squealed and waved her arms frantically when a large bubble popped, sending bits of metal showering outwards.

Her mind was reeling; she had no idea what to do. She had never seen metal behave this way and her nerves were at their wits end as she tried to think of a logical plan of action.

When none came to her, she, in the end, made an illogical action: she reached out and touched the bubbling and sparking lump and frantically tried to mold its convulsing girth back together.

Later, Winry would wonder what exactly had happened to her poor mind for her to have done such a stupid and rash thing, but at the time, it was all she could think of. At least she wasn't completely incompetent; she still had on her rubber gloves.

As soon as her gloved hands lay on the surface of the metal, however, she realized her mistake. Lighting was everywhere, and the temperature of the lump was somehow increasing. She also noticed the solid had taken on a darker shade, and it now matched the color of automail.

Desperately, Winry tried to pull her hands away from the soft metal. She was scared to think of what would happen if the lightning touched her.

As the sparks clung to the metal, they began to fan out around the clayish metal in bands, covering all sides of it. Yanking with all her strength, she managed to free her left hand from the pull of the metal, but before she could work on freeing her other hand, a spark jumped at her right hand. When it hit her rubber glove, the weak material broke apart.

Time seemed to slow in that moment and Winry's gaze momentarily landed on her military notebook. On the cover was a transmutation circle with a dragon etched in its center, strong jaws opened wide in what had to be a fierce roar, claws pawing the air. The picture of the dragon appeared in her mind until pain seared through her hand where the glove had once been. The blue spark had come in contact with her hand, and she had flinched, tightly shutting her eyes. Random images reeled through her mind in blinding speeds causing Winry's stomach to churn painfully. Bright lights appeared in the back of her eyes, swirls of blue light converged together etching the dragon into her mind as the final image she saw and then all went black.

Winry's hand was released and she fell to the ground, unconscious, blue lightning clinging to her hands and jumping around her arms. The clump of metal bulged and the lightning was absorbed into it, branching out like wiry veins. The metal was moving on its own now, stretching at awkward angles and rippling with energy. A long thin piece came out its top, while another piece stretched out its back. The middle thinned and elongated, then branched off in four places.

As more lightning was collected into it, the metals shade lightened to a soft silver color. The metal continued to shape itself. On each of the four branches that came out of the body, forearms and back legs appeared, followed by small clawed paws. On the long branch that stretched upwards, a snout and two delicate horns formed. The branch out of the back snaked around and formed a tail, and two more pieces began jutting out higher up on the creatures back. The creature stretched its long neck out and opened its forming mouth showing small metal teeth jutting out and uttered a sharp high pitched cry that sounded like metal scratching metal. The single light bulb on the ceiling flickered then went out, and the whole room became shrouded in darkness.

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Please please please review! Tell me if you liked it, hated it,I don't care,I just wanna know. Flames may burn but I'll get over it. Most importantly, thanks for reading! 

-- Miss Soupy


	2. Etched in Steel

A/N: ok, sorry for taking so long to update. Its the busy time of the year for me, and I needed to have my beta proof-read before updating. (thank you bluepen113 for reading it over!)

I just want to say thank you so much those of you who reviewed! It really makes my day : )

I know my story is weird..and its about to get weirder, haha, but like I said, this story is a good bit fantasy.

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA!

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I'll Leave the Door Open

Ch. 2: Etched in Steel

Winry stirred, and let out a moan as she moved her head back and forth. Why was it so dark?

Slowly, she peeked one eye open, then the other. Blinkingly, she peered into the darkness as she tried to remember how she had ended up on the floor. She jerked her hands up close to her face as the memory of lightning racing up her hands came back to her. Wriggling her fingers experimentally, Winry found everything in working order, though they did seem to tingle faintly.

The dazed mechanic groaned and put a hand up to her head; she now had a fierce headache.

A crashing sound rang out from some corner of her workroom, and Winry gasped in surprise, her breaths coming in quick fearful intakes. Something was close to her; she could hear a strange clanking noise as if something was moving towards her.

Winry reflexively backed away as far as she could till her body hit the hard wall and she could move no more. Heart pounding, she felt around on the ground for anything she could use to defend herself and her hand landed on a stray flashlight that must have rolled off of her back shelf.

Shakily, she turned it on, and shined the light in the direction the noise was coming from, revealing the shadowed form of _something_.

The girl felt as if her heart had stopped and her blue eyes widened in surprise. Two yards away sitting on the floor, blinking hard from the light being shown, was the unmistakable figure of a dragon. Roughly the size of a cat, it shimmered slightly as the light reflected off its shiny, grey metallic hide.

The creature's head was cocked to the side slightly as if curious, ruby eyes glinted faintly. A long snake-like tail twitched from side to side calmly as it watched her which made Winry's breath catch; this thing was moving!

It was completely made of metal, from its tail, to the tip of its snout, to its membrane wings folded neatly against its sleek back.

Winry gulped.

Through her fear, she couldn't help but think of how handsome the creature was.

Its delicate little claws were perfectly shaped, its body was catlike and thin, but somehow seemed muscular, wiry metal muscles flexed gracefully as it moved about. Its hide was smooth, but had the faintest scale patterns running across it which caught the light and shimmered beautifully.

The creature's head was long, with two punctures at the tip for its nose which served as its nostrils, and two tiny fangs sticking over the bottom jaw. Its eyes were two sparkling red orbs. On top of its head was a pair of small delicate horns that twisted like corkscrews. Located on its back were two thin, pliable bat-like wings that laid flat.

The dragon sat up taller, looking Winry over, then let out a clear musical note, greatly resembling a sound that would come from a flute or pipe.

Winry blinked and released the air, she felt, had been held in for an eternity. She sat stone still as the creature had ambled up to her and stopped a foot away. Reaching its long neck out, it sniffed her for a second, then, seemed to look directly into her eyes, its head cocked to the side as if in question. She looked down at it and saw her own pale reflection in its ruby eyes.

Winry's expression softened as she watched the dragon reach a clawed paw towards her. She hesitated for a second, before she reached out and touched it. It was warm to the touch, not cool like she expected, since it was metal. The creature hummed happily, and Winry felt along its smooth back curiously.

"You're beautiful…" she whispered under her breath and she lightly scratched the dragons chin.

It closed its eyes and happily swished its tail from side to side, vibrating slightly, which reminded Winry of a cat purring, and then released a deep throated noise that sounded like hollow metal chimes colliding with one another when blown by a breeze.

Winry grinned. "You like that, don't you?" she asked the dragon, who responded by vibrating more, which caused Winry's hands to feel tingly.

Giggling, the blonde gently picked up the dragon, cradling it in her arms and looked around the room with the aid of her flashlight so she could better asses the damage to her workroom. Some things had been knocked off her long work bench and now lay scattered on the ground. She guessed the dragon had something to do with that.

Shining the light towards the ceiling lamp, Winry sighed.

"I'll need to replace that."

The dragon, who thoroughly enjoyed being cradled and doted on, looked up at the light, stretched its neck out slightly and whistled a string of notes. The light went on, and Winry blinked, her eyes trying to adjust to the sudden light.

Dumbfounded and a bit shaken, she stared at the dragon mouth wide open. It stared back innocently, ruby eyes glinting with an intelligent flare. Its metallic hide glinted in the soft glow of the light bulb, throwing sparkles delicately over Winry's pale arm.

Cradling the dragon in on arm and holding the flashlight with her other hand, she stood, though a bit shakily, and thought about the whole situation. As far as she knew, something like this had never happened before.

_But _how_ did it happen?_ Her mind couldn't produce any clear answers to this strange puzzle.

After returning the flashlight to its shelf, she took a deep breath and slowly moved back towards her worktable, dragon in tow, which was making a soft clinking noise in its throat, what she referred to as its purr.

Setting the dragon on the table top, the blonde mechanic started cleaning up, her mind still abuzz with questions. What exactly had happened? Was it something she did or a result of something else? Her mind was reeling, and now she felt weak and tired.

_Maybe now isn't the time to worry about this_, she thought to herself, her brows creasing and her mouth straightened into a thin line.

The dragon, meanwhile, was busying itself with trying to pry open a jar of screws. Its tail carelessly swished across her military notebook.

"Do you need something?" Winry asked, slightly amused as she approached the dragon and lifted it away from the jar.

She wasn't sure what it was getting at the screws for, but she'd put that question away with the thousands of others till she could think clearly once more. Looking down at her book, she saw a picture of a transmutation circle with an image of a dragon inside it. It was the same image that she knew was printed on the back of the stopwatches assigned to registered alchemists. She closed the notebook and stuck it in her shoulder bag.

A knock at the door startled the already shaken blonde, and she jumped nearly a foot in the air.

"Who is it?" she called, trying to compose herself as her heart beat frantically in her chest.

She stuffed the dragon into the bag and slung it across her shoulder. The dragon made a rattling noise in protest, but went silent from a hush by Winry.

Winry felt herself relax slightly as Riza Hawkeye poked her head through the door at the top of the steps.

"I saw the light under the door and thought I'd check in on you. You really should go home Winry, you've been since seven this morning," the older woman looked down at the mechanic, concern evident in her eyes.

She opened the door wider and stood in the doorway as light from the hall flooded through.

Winry gave a nervous laugh.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Maybe I should head home, I am a bit tired," she replied with a lopsided grin as she made her way to the stairs, flipping off the light of her workshop and stepping up next to Riza.

Locking the door, Winry turned to her friend with a smile. A look of worry flashed across Riza's eyes.

"Winry, are you alright? You look pale."

The blonde mechanic gulped, slightly startled that she had noticed, but quickly hid her discomfort with a reassuring smile.

"I'm fine Riza, don't worry. I'm just tired, that's all."

She patted her worried friend on the shoulder, and waved.

"See you tomorrow!" Winry called over her shoulder, and with that she made her way home, keeping her bag protectively pressed against her.

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Next chapter:

Pyre Ignition- Winry makes it home with her new companion. What will she (and Den)discover about the strange creature?

Thanks for reading and please review!

-Miss Soupy


	3. Pyre Ignition

A/N: Thanks to all of you who review! I really appreciate it. This chapter is a bit short, and gets strange, but after thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that FMA on its own is a rather strange story so its ok if my fanfic is strage too. Yay to my amazing reasoning skills, ha. Thanks to bluepen113 for reading it over!

Disclaimer:I don't own FMA

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I'll Leave the Door Open

Ch. 3 Pyre Ignition

Only when Winry had safely lurched through her apartment door and successfully lock it did she breathe safely again. Her nerves were still on edge, but thankfully, the short walk to her apartment had been uneventful. Well, besides the puffs of smoke that would emanate from her bag from time to time.

Winry's apartment was a small two bedroom flat located in the convenient area of downtown Central. It had a nice kitchen, two bathrooms, living room, and an office, which she opted to turn into a workroom. It was perfect for her, and though she was sometimes homesick for the simple country life she had left behind, Winry couldn't help but feel proud of how far she had come.

Roy of course had a hand in getting her this nice apartment for her, and not only was it in a good area, but her good friend, Sciezska lived right next door. The two had always gotten along, and had remained good friends through the years. She often wondered if Roy had put them together on purpose or if it was a fluke, but either way, it made things a lot easier for Winry to get used to this busy military life.

After hearing the audible click that signaled her door was locked, Winry slumped against the door, her eyes closed in exhaustion, and allowed her body to slide down to the floor. Finally, she released her death grip upon her bag, and if fell over off her shoulder, causing the occupant inside to rattle in protest.

When she felt a tentative wet nose against her cheek, Winry lazily reached out to stroke soft fur.

"Hey Den," she mumbled, giving her dog a scratch behind the ears.

Cracking an eye, she saw Den's large head move to inspect the bag lying at her side. He was quite old now, and much slower than he had been, but he was still the ever lovable curious dog he had always been.

Sniffing the bag cautiously, he whined and backed up when something inside it moved. Winry patted Den comfortingly as he stood on edge, not sure if he should protect his master or make a run for it.

A slender neck poked out of the bag, and ruby eyes looked curiously at the dog from an upside down position. Den then lowered his nose to sniff the strange creature, but just then the dragon let out a metallic squawk, and that sent Den scattering.

Winry sighed. Den would be hiding in the closet all night, the poor dog. He wasn't the bravest creature out there, that was for sure. The dragon removed itself fully from the bag and looked up at Winry expectantly, its head cocked to the side.

"Don't worry, he'll come out eventually. He's even frightened of his own bark sometimes," she told it, chuckling to herself as she collected her things and stood.

The dragon rumbled in response, then went about looking around the room.

Winry, hoping the dragon would be alright by itself for a moment, went to her room to change. She paused by the other bedroom door, on her way, and hesitantly opened it.

Her eyes dulled sadly seeing the room empty.

The bed was neatly made, and the desk was clear of any lose parchments. All the books were properly placed in the bookshelf, and the blinds were drawn, leaving the only light source streaming in from the doorway where Winry stood.

He hadn't come back yet.

Winry felt the familiar sense of worry clench in her stomach and she tried to shake it off. If something had happened to him, she would have been told. With one final look around, she closed the door and headed for her room to change.

When she reemerged, dressed in lose pajamas, she looked into the living room to find the dragon gone. Panic hit her for a brief moment, before the clatter of silverware came from the kitchen.

"Hey! Not the silverware!"

Hastily, she grabbed what was left of a fork from the dragon's clutches. It had been bit in half entirely.

"This is NOT for you to eat," Winry scolded, waving the fork for effect. "Silverware is _expensive_, and I don't want to have to buy more, got it? If you have to eat something, eat things that haven't already been made into something useful, understand?"

Winry was seriously doubting her sanity as she carried out this conversation, but when the dragon meekly bobbed its head, she felt her eyes bug out.

"Umm..right, well, I'll see what I have for you to eat. My scraps are in my workroom."

The dragon, hearing this, eagerly clamored to her shoulder, where it perched comfortably, sending warm air dancing across her cheek. Winry still couldn't get over how the metal hide of the dragon was actually _warm_, not cold like she would expect.

After digging around her cluttered workroom, Winry found a good amount of metal scraps she didn't need, and the dragon helped itself to everything, from iron rods, to copper wire, to tinfoil. By the time it had eaten it's full, there were tendrils of copper colors veining its wings and splotches of different colored metal across its hide.

Tracing a copper colored vein, Winry pondered this. It looked like it absorbed metal somehow.

Deciding to do a little research, the blonde took out a few books she had and flipped through the pages, looking for anything that resembled metal being _alive_. She knew it was fruitless; she had read and reread most of these books numerous times and had never come across anything even close to this, but she wanted to try anyways.

The closest thing she found to living metal was the story of a man who was burned alive. Assumed dead during a war, body collectors had heaped him up with the rest of the bodies onto a burning pyre. They had placed coins over his eyes, which had something to do with burial at the time, and set the pyre to burn. The metal over his eyes had begun to melt, and the pain made the man wake and yell for help. They were able to save the man, but the metal had melted and attached to his skin, blinding him.

Winry shivered at the thought, but it was an interesting story none-the-less. Looking down, she saw the dragon looking under her arm at the page she had been reading. It was eyeing a picture of a large pyre of wood burning, sending the flames licking towards the heavens.

"The fire is large because of chemicals they put on the pyre so it burns hotter. This makes it burn quicker and the flame larger. It enhances the fire." Winry read outloud from the caption under the picture. "It says it was called a _pyre_ because of the ancient word _pyr_, which means fire."

The dragon bobbed its head, and with its claws opened a book lying on the ground and flipped through it, careful not to rip the pages. Winry recognized that book as one Roy had given her after she accepted a job at the military. After awhile, it seemed to find something interesting for it pointed one little claw at a picture.

This one was of the state alchemists pocket watch, and showed step by step how to put one together, and the special properties it had. It had the special design of the creature clawing the air, and told how this specific circle helped enhance an alchemist's powers.

"It's a special watch given to state certified alchemist's," Winry explained, outlining the watch with a finger. "The design helps to amplify alchemy, or so I'm told."

The dragon nodded again, then pointed to the previous picture of the pyre, then at the watch, and looked up at her expectantly.

Winry furrowed her brow in confusion, not sure of what it wanted. The dragon merely repeated the process and then pressed its nose to her knee.

"Are you telling me they are connected?" Winry tried, scratching her head.

It nodded, and then pointed to a word.

"Enhances…" Winry read aloud. Her eyes widened in understanding. "They are the same, the pyre enhances a fire and the watch enhances alchemy, right?"

The dragon whistled, which Winry took as a good sign. Now the dragon pointed to itself and then scrambled into Winry's lap. So now the dragon could read? It sure learned fast! But what did it mean?

Winry petted it fondly for a second, thinking.

"You will enhance me," she whispered in awe and fear both, gently cradling the creature in her arms.

Suddenly, the depth of the situation hit her. She had done something no one had ever been able to accomplish, and she was a mere mechanic from a small town. She had wanted nothing more than to do the work she loved and to be able to help people, even if it was just by making automail. Sure, she still harbored the hope of finding something out about Edward, but at least she was set with a job, and a place to live, as well as people she could call friends. With just those things, her life had basically been complete, all except for that last lost piece of the puzzle, but even without that one piece, you could still see the final picture. Well, most of it anyways.

And now what?

Honestly, Winry had no idea what would result from this, and that terrified her. Not knowing the future scared her. In one second, everything she had worked so hard for could be taken away from her.

She trembled, in spite of herself, and decided it was time for bed. Her thoughts were still raging as she lay her head against her soft pillow hoping sleep would come to her fast. The dragon curled up next to her, its body acting like a furnace to keep her warm and Winry stroked it gently, causing it to produce the purring sound once again.

It was times like these, when she was most fearful, that she thought of Edward with the most desperation. If he were here, would he know what to do?

In all honesty, he probably wouldn't know, but he would have figured something out, she was sure. Ed was good at this type of thing. He would formulate plans, and slowly tick them off one by one till he was left with the correct choice, even if it was the most dangerous one. His mind was all science.

She herself was more of a 'rule by your heart' kind of girl. She could get really technical about automail of course, so she was a bit of a science person, but only in her range of expertise. All she could go on right now was what her heart and gut said.

She needed a science mind, she decided. She needed help, and it was up to her to get it. The hard part wasn't going to be finding someone to help her, for she already knew exactly she should got to, but it would be getting up the courage to do it and face the consequences.

"Good or bad, I need to be ready for whatever may come. We've got to help each other now," Winry whispered into the darkness, her blue eyes closing.

"Add fuel to my courage so I can stay strong. Enhance me and be my strength. Be my… _Pyre…_"

A whistle, a wisp of smoke, and all was quiet.

* * *

A/N: After getting some reviewers who wanted to know when Ed and Al were coming into the story, I decided to make the next chapter about Ed. I hadn't orginally inteded to have this chapter next, but it works out alright to have it here.

Don't forget to review!

Next chapter: Images in the Smoke- Edward has a strange dream. What could it mean? Is it even a dream or something more?

-Miss Soupy


	4. Images in the Smoke

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I've gotten really great comments and that really motivates me to do my very best and update as soon as a I can. After one reviewer wondered when Ed and Al would come in, I decided to make this chapter sooner than I had originally planned. I actually think it works better placing this chapter here anyways. I just hope I was able to keep Ed in character...

Disclaimer: i don't own FMA

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Ch. 4: Images in the Smoke

That night, Edward Elric once again dreamt of the Gate. These dreams really weren't that unusual for him, quite the opposite really, for he had had many dreams of the Gate since coming to the other world.

However, this dream was turning out to be different for there was, what appeared to be, a dragon statue in it, strangely enough.

Another thing he noticed at the start was the colors. This dream wasn't dull like they usually were. No, this dream was full of vivid colors, the likes he hadn't seen since his life in Amestris. The Gate pulsed with an eerie violet light swirling in its cloudlike depths, while other colored lights flashed around in random intervals around where Ed stood.

The dragon statue sat on a stone step at left side of the base of the Gate, its back to Ed. The strange balls of light reflected across the statues back, flashing sparkles against the dark stones of the gates support. Its scales were like winking stars, its bat-like wings were extended to their full length and Ed caught his reflection in them.

His own amber eyes stared back at him from the mirror like metallic back of the dragon and he blinked in surprise. The picture was vague at best, and was like looking at things through a metal bowl with his features widely distorted.

Ed experimentally moved his head to the side, looking as the image of himself elongated and narrowed at his movements. For fun, Ed made a strange face, sticking out his tongue and pulling at his bottom eyelid. His reflection looked so ridiculous he couldn't help but let out a bark of laughter, which echoed numbly throughout the strange dream place.

The blonde shivered at the hollow sound, but seeing something from the corner of his eye he quickly froze in place.

Had the statue just moved?

Ed peered at it warily, golden eyes alert and suspicious before widening in surprise. His reflection rippled and swirled on its own as if it were nothing more than water.

Kneeling before the dragon, Ed watched with fascination and wonder as he saw the statue's surface visibly _shiver. _The statue, which Ed believed was actually a statue less and less now, flexed its back which was causing the reflection to shift and be replaced by another image altogether. Yet, this image wasn't all that different for his own amber eyes stared back at him once more.

Ed's eyes widened in fear as he realized it wasn't the present him that he now saw, but instead a younger version of himself. His hair was a darker golden blonde than it was in the world he now lived in, and was pulled into a braid. His face was fuller than it was now; his face was leaner now, having lost his baby fat now that he was older.

His mind reeling, Ed finally was able to recall why this image looked so familiar. It was a photograph Winry had taken of him, with his reluctance of course, on one of his visits to get his automail fixed.

At first, to his chagrin, she had told him that getting his picture taken every time he visited would be a good way to map his growth. That hadn't seemed like a good enough reason for him however, and had promptly sent him into a tirade about him being 'so short that he had to be looked at through a magnifying glass to actually be seen'.

Seeing how that move hadn't quite worked, Winry tried a different approach, which promptly sent Ed on a guilt trip.

"_You hardly visit, Edward. At least I'll have a picture so I don't forget what my best friend looks like."_

Needless to say he had allowed her to take his picture after that. Ed felt how he had treated Winry would always be a sore spot on his heart.

Now it was too late to even try to repent.

As Ed watched the scene in the dragons back, he saw the image get smaller. Presently, he could make out other photographs on a small round table. There were pictures of him, of Alphonse, of an old woman Ed immediately recognized as Granny Pinako, and a picture of a smiling couple with blonde hair which Ed knew were Winry's parents. To Ed's complete and utter horror, he also saw a picture of Roy and his whole military posse, which included: Hawkeye, Havoc, Fuery, Breda, Armstrong, Farman, Sciezska, and even…_Winry_? In a military uniform?

Impossible. He had obviously been mistaken because that was something, he was sure, that would never EVER happen.

The scene moved from picture to picture as if something was looking at them which was then shown on the metallic back. _Something_ was in Winry's house looking at her pictures.

This really was a strange dream!

At once the room spun and faced a different direction showing a bed where someone slept fitfully.

Someone with long platinum blonde hair.

Someone Ed knew had the brightest blues eyes he had ever seen, and ever would see.

Someone Ed had been thought he would never see again.

But there she was, somehow, and Ed felt this was turning out to be the best dream he had had for a long time.

She looked different, Ed noted, more mature, older looking.

Beautiful.

Ed blinked at that thought, but then decided it was a fact he, and virtually any other man, could admit freely.

For some reason, her face looked worried, her eyebrows were knitted together and beads of sweat were forming on her forehead, which caused Ed to worry helplessly.

When he saw her curl into a tighter ball, gripping the covers with a pained expression, he unconsciously clenched his hands into fists until his nails dug into his palm on one hand. His other hand was unaffected however, because of his prosthetic arm. He wanted to call out to her, help her, do something, anything, but he couldn't even be sure that this was even real!

A word formed on her lips, and sound erupted into the gloomy space Ed sat in, causing his heart to stop. The sound resonated over and over inside and out, echoing in his ears and striking his very core.

"_Edward!"_

Her voice had sounded so fearful, so desperate that Ed's heart clenched painfully.

"Winry! I'm here! It's me, Ed!" Ed cried desperately into the abyss, but no reply came.

Quickly getting angry, Ed abruptly stood and yelled, "What the hell is this! Why are you showing me this? As some kind of torture!"

To his horror, tears stung the corners of his eyes, but he willed them away as anger and frustration bubbled up in him.

Without thinking, Ed's already clenched fist drew back and sprang forward in a punch. It would pay for showing him such things. How dare it show Winry to him only to find he couldn't do anything to help her, to let her know he was there.

Centimeters from impact on the dragons back he stopped his fist and looked on wide eyed.

That time, he was positive it had moved. The creature had turned its head to the side to look at Ed. Smoke was billowing from its nostrils in fine white puffs. It stretched its shoulder blades and ruffled its wings as if stretching. This action caused the image of a now peaceful Winry to disappear, and Ed felt empty that it was gone.

Turning his attention back to the dragon's face, Ed watched the trail of smoke spiraling lazily higher and higher. Now the dragon turned and faced him fully, its wings folded up to rest across its back. Its ruby eyes regarded Ed suspiciously at first, narrowed to small slits, its head cocked to the side.

When it had seemed to make up its mind, it stretched its neck out and retched a large puff of smoke from its long maw.

The smoke shifted, and swirled and formed a strange shape. Looking harder, it became a human head, a girl, with long hair, bright eyes, and a pleasant, happy face. Ed knew it was Winry he was seeing once more, and he was glad to see this time she was smiling and even waving.

More smoke joined the Winry cloud, and this took on the shape of a dog, which the Winry cloud began to pet fondly. Ed smiled at the sight of the lovable dog, Den.

After a few moments of watching the smoke Winry and Den, their images began to drift apart and fade until they were no more.

With a soft, flinty roar, the dragon released another plume. This smoke was red and thick. Blue lightning glinted in and out of the cloud, but couldn't actually escape it. The dragon moved, but Ed was paid it no attention for he was too engrossed with the forming image. This time it spread out to form a circle.

Ed's pupils dilated in pure horror.

It was a transmutation circle, with trademark lines fanning out to crisscross over the center to the outside line of the circle. It was different than any Ed had seen, however, for in the middle the lines formed a complex image. It was a frightening image, and Ed felt his body tremble in fear. It was an ugly snake-like creature that seemed to reek of evil.

Ed wanted to run, wanted to look away, but found he could do neither. His heart beat wildly against his chest as fear gripped him and held him fast.

All he could do was stare; stare into the empty eyes of the creature.

But they weren't empty, not really. In them, Ed could see his every fear, his every mistake, his every dark thought displayed. The creature could read everything, and it grinned, showing long, jagged teeth. Ed was losing himself, his very soul to the creature, and yet he still couldn't look away.

He was going to die. He was going to be taken by the thing.

A hole opened up below him. Pale hairless creatures began grabbing at him, trying to drag him away into the darkness. From above, the head of the creature extended out from the circle, its slimy, slick tongue was reaching out to him like an appendage.

Ed tried to cry out but couldn't. He was helpless, so helpless. His body was numb as the creatures below tugged at him, their tentacle like ropes attaching to him. His body went limp as he gave himself up to his fear and quit his pointless struggling.

An angry shriek from the dragon filled the space of the void and fire burst from somewhere, tearing through the circle above him. With a soundless screech, the snake and circle were ignited in a fiery blaze and Ed felt himself released from the creatures hold on him and saw the pale creatures below fade into nothing.

In a final attempt, the creature's smoky tongue flailed and lashed out at Ed. It was inches away from touching him when a white plume confronted it. Brandishing what looked very much like a wrench, drove the image away completely. The smoke image of Winry turned to Ed grinning in triumph, and with a final wave and wink, dissipated.

Climbing down from its perch, the dragon crawled over to the Gate. It gave Ed a final glance over its shoulder before entering the Gates swirling chasm and was gone.

With a final dazzling flash of light from the Gate, everything in Ed's vision went white and he slipped away back into a dreamless sleep.

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This chapter creeped me out quite a bit as I was writing it. Poor Edo! Anyways, thanks for reading! Reviews would be lovely!

Next Chapter: Melding Future: Winry confronts Roy about what happened, hoping he has some idea of what to do. However, his plans for her aren't exactly what she was expecting.

-Miss Soupy


	5. Melding Future

A/N: Gomen gomen to my reviewers! Much appreciated! Well, I have now seen the FMA movie and it was cool, but I was a little disappointed with the ending. Oh well, thats what we have fanfiction for! Yay for ending things the way we want! (EdWin)

Disclaimer: don't own FMA

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I'll Leave the Door Open

Ch. 5: Melding Future

Winry stood nervously in front of two large oak doors. Her fist was raised to knock, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She had no idea how Mustang would react, but she wasn't sure she wanted to face him either way.

She could hear the rattling breath of the metal dragon from within her shoulder bag, and knew it was still asleep. She had given it the name Pyre, and though she couldn't be sure of its sex, she thought of it more as a handsome creature than just beautiful, so in her mind it favored more masculine than feminine.

Taking a deep breath, she moved to knock just as one of the doors was pulled open inward, revealing a handsome man with blonde spiky hair and a cigarette planted firmly between his lips. He looked slightly startled to find the young blonde mechanic standing at the door, but quickly recovered and smiled graciously down at her.

"Ah, Miss Rockbell, what brings you around these parts? Not that it isn't a delight running into you," he added, giving her a wink.

Slightly flustered, Winry met his grey eyes with her blue ones and stuttered, "Oh, uhh, hello Major Havoc, I, uhh, I just wanted to speak to Fuhrer Mustang if I could."

She watched as the man before her deflated slightly and saw his eyebrow twitch ever so slightly.

"Oh, is that right? Well, uh, don't let me keep you," he replied, moving back to hold the door for her. Winry entered the room and Havoc moved to leave.

"Thanks Major," the blonde mechanic said gratefully, giving him a bright smile. Any dismay Jean Havoc had quickly evaporated as he return her smile with his own cocky grin.

"Always a pleasure Miss Rockbell," he saluted and gave one last wink, then left, the door snapping shut behind him.

Taking a deep breath, Winry stepped up to the Fuhrer's desk.

"Sir? If I could have a moment,"

The Fuhrer didn't miss the slightly anxious intake of breath and slightly trembling voice, and looked up from behind his paper expectantly. It was very unlike Winry to outwardly show fear to anyone. The flame alchemist instantly braced himself for what he thought was probably some bad news, seeing the steely Winry act this way.

"Of, course Winry, and you don't have to be so formal when it's just the two of us remember." He smiled slightly, giving her his full attention.

Winry however felt at the moment such informalities couldn't be mustered, so she decided to just plow ahead and get it over with. She felt the dragon stir in the bag at her side and for some reason felt a wave of confidence rush over her. She was able to go on with a stronger voice.

"Well, it's about that mystery metal you had me working on."

Roy nodded in understanding as she went on.

"You see, last night I stayed late and was working on identifying it and well," she stopped, racking her brain for a way to put it.

_I can't just tell him I got upset thinking about Edward…_she thought to herself, feeling her cheeks heat up ever so slightly.

"Well, I made notes on it and from what I could tell it didn't seem all that extraordinary, and at first I couldn't understand why it would be pirated," she began, choosing her wording carefully. "But then something, strange, happened," the blonde finished lamely, looking slightly helpless.

Roy frowned, not quite sure what to think.

"What happened exactly?" he prodded, black brows creasing as he looked into her blue eyes.

His stare bore into her, but she met his gaze evenly. Winry Rockbell was not one to back down from anyone, not even the Fuhrer.

"I'm not exactly sure how it happened but," she trailed off, pulling the bag from her shoulder and set it on his large oak desk.

Cocking an eyebrow, Roy looked from the bag to Winry's face, then back to the bag when she didn't meet his eye but instead prompted him to look at the insides of the bag. The Fuhrer's lone eye widened as he saw something within the bag move.

"Winry, what exactly—," but he wasn't able to finish as a slender head popped through the top of the open bag and blinked up at him with ruby eyes.

Roy's jaw dropped as he watched what was unmistakably a dragon, climb out of the pink shoulder bag, stretch its wings, and sounded a loud metallic yawn. Roy looked up to Winry in disbelief, hoping for some kind of explanation.

"I, accidentally, spilled some liquid automail on it. The metal just sort of, started sparking, and I added more liquid automail and it sparked more and more. It began reacting violently. I panicked and touched the metal and that's when a spark hit me. Burned right through my glove and hit my skin, and soon after I collapsed. When I woke up, it had become this perfectly solid dragon that was…_alive,_" she explained, her words coming out in a large rush.

Roy's visible eye twitched as he looked back to the dragon who had its snout in a container of paperclips. Winry gasped and quickly caught the dragon, pulling it away and cradled it as it looked up at her, a few loose paperclips dangling from its mouth.

"Pyre, you can't just eat everything!" she scolded as the said dragon munched on the metal. She looked up to Roy apologetically and he twitched once again.

"It has a name?" he drawled incredulously, still feeling rather speechless about the whole situation.

Winry blinked once and then smiled smugly at the flustered Fuhrer. She felt a bit sorry for him, never a dull moment around headquarters.

"Of course he has a name, he's a living thing after all," she replied matter-of-factly, while Pyre blew a thread of smoke through his nose and watched as it lazily drifted upwards.

Slightly dazed, the Fuhrer watched the tendril of smoke the dragon had conjured.

_A living thing made entirely of metal, is it even possible?_

Sure, people could replace a lot with automail, but could a whole creature be structured by it? He realized something like this shouldn't have surprised him so much. He had seen many remarkable things in his life, and as it was, you'd think he was past the point of being surprised by anything.

Quickly, Roy got a grip on himself and replaced his dazed look with a grim one. Something didn't add up with the story she had given him.

"Winry, you've been working with automail for a long time and nothing like this has ever happened. Am I correct?" He looked at her with stern expression, letting her know he realized there was more to this story and he was going to hear it all.

Winry gulped, and bit her lip. She had known deep down that of all people, the Flame wouldn't let her by without the whole truth. But the truth was she was embarrassed by the whole matter, by her weakness. She wasn't the only one who cared about Edward, and yet she seemed to be the least capable of dealing with the loss.

_But everyone grieves in their own way_, she argued, and that wasn't anything to be ashamed of.

Shifting from side to side, she held the Fuhrers gaze for a second then looked down at the stack of papers on his desk.

"I didn't melt just any automail," she began quietly, staring pointedly at the desk.

She felt her cheeks heat up but she continued. "I-I melted down one of Ed's old automail arms. I couldn't stand looking at it anymore," she finished, the end coming out as a whisper laced with anger and anguish, but still strong.

She felt the sting of tears, but refused to release them. She would not look weak in front of Roy Mustang, her superior, her once enemy, now friend.

Perhaps sensing her turmoil, Pyre shifted in Winry's arms and pressed its warm snout against her neck as if to comfort her.

Watching her, Roy's face softened. It figured this would be linked to the Fullmetal in some way. Winry just couldn't let him go, no matter how much it destroyed her to hold on.

Being in the military for so long had taught Roy how to let go, it was something one had to learn fast if they were going to make it in this occupation. It was sad how hard one had to turn in this profession; how you had to lose some of your most passionate feelings just to survive to see one more day. Never let yourself get too attached to anything or anyone, it'll just cause problems down the road.

Of course, he couldn't just say he hadn't been affected by Ed's disappearance. Hadn't it been he who set up that team whose sole purpose was to research the underground city as well as possible transmutation circles that could be used in teleportation?

He liked to argue it would be helpful to the military to know all about this power, but deep down, didn't he hold a sliver of hope that there was a possibility of getting Fullmetal back?

If he had hope, he knew it was slim, but it was still there, deep down. Maybe it was that hope that had him take on the blonde mechanic before him. Perhaps he had believed together they could find a solution, or together they could at least grant each other the comfort needed.

Sure, ever since the day he had learned this was the daughter of the two doctors he had murdered in the war, he had felt a strange feeling of protectiveness towards her.

Of course, in the beginning, his guilt for murdering her family had eaten away at him. Just looking into her eyes made him relive the experience, and he was hesitant about even approaching this strong willed girl.

When she had found out it was he who was responsible for their deaths, he, like a coward, had kept his distance, not wanting to invoke her wrath on him, even if he did deserve it. Both of them had changed a lot since then.

Somewhere a long the way Winry had shown she was not holding it against him. She had forgiven him, and his heart was eased slightly, a burden lifted. And when Fullmetal had left, he remembered her, and took it upon himself to make sure she along with Alphonse were well taken care of. Roy became like her guardian in a way, and he couldn't deny the odd sense of relief he felt when she had come to him for a position. She now could stay close, under his watchful eye, pun intended.

Coming out of his reverie, he saw her on the brink of tears, so he spoke her name softly to get her attention. Surprised by his gentleness she looked up into his eye, waiting for him to continue.

"Well, that explains a bit more, but not enough to my liking," he began, setting his elbows on the desk and laying his chin atop his interlinked hands.

"Yeah, I'm really confused about all this as well, but I don't know what else to tell you. I've said all I really know about it," Winry confessed with a sigh.

Reaching in her bag, she pulled out the few notes she had taken when observing the mystery metal, and gave them to Roy to read over. He read over it quickly, then set it in one of his drawers, then leaned back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling.

"It'll have to do for now, until I get an alchemist in here to inspect--," he paused trying to remember what she had called the dragon, "Pyre I believe?"

Winry opened her mouth to confirm but Roy plowed on not waiting for an answer. It seemed he had finally gone into know-it-all Fuhrer mode.

"I'm convinced that so far this creature seems mostly harmless, but we need to know for sure. Until then, I want this kept confidential. I'll leave you to handle keeping it from running around in front of people."

Winry grimaced at the thought of how people would react to seeing Pyre.

Roy closed his eye thoughtfully and continued, "I don't know if you realize the extent of what you have made, but to my knowledge, nothing like this has ever been created."

Winry blushed but nodded, clutching the dragon a little tighter.

Meanwhile, Pyre seemed to understand that he was what they were currently talking about and fixed his ruby red eyes on the dark haired man speaking, giving an appearance of human intelligence. As if feeling its eyes upon him, Roy surveyed the dragon thoughtfully.

"Give the dragon here," Roy commanded after a brief silence. Standing, he moved around the desk and held his hands out expectantly, white gloves securely in place.

Winry wasn't sure what to do. She didn't know exactly how Pyre might react to another person, nor did she know exactly what he could do, besides blowing smoke and devouring metal. Pyre however decided for her as he shifted in Winry's arms and relocated to her shoulder. From there he spread membrane thin wings and drifted down into Roy's arms.

Giving an unreadable look to the Fuhrer, Pyre busied himself with inspecting the starch white gloves the alchemist always wore. Roy was surprised how light the metal dragon really was. Somehow the metal had become unnaturally pliable, to the point where it could move as if it were flesh. It truly didn't feel hard like metal, but instead had a soft texture to it. The scales that went down its spine were more metal like and rigid, as well as its sharp claws. Roy however was soon woken out of his reverie by a distressed squeal from Winry.

"Pyre, don't!"

Which was then followed by a sharp pain in his hand and he flinched, launching his hand away from his body, dragon in tow.

A torn glove and cursing alchemist later, the dragon sat on the floor, wings outstretched in a challenging fashion as a piece of white material dangled from its fanged maw. A rattling growl escaped its mouth as the dragon glared up at the man who was, needless to say, quite livid and glaring back, clutching his ruined glove with his other hand.

Winry was at a loss at what to do, comfort the dragon who must have been frightened though seemed just fine at the moment, or help the Fuhrer who probably wouldn't want her help anyways. Deciding to stay somewhat neutral, she planted her feet, but decided to at least make sure her boss was alright.

"Sir? Are you alright? I'll get you a bandage if you want-,"

She got a glare in return for her effort and she huffed, crossing her arms, one cheek puffed out slightly in annoyance.

With a snap, Pyre devoured the material, eyes glinting, and if Winry wasn't mistaken, somewhat smirking.

Roy remained still for a time, then, in a motion so fast Winry didn't even have time to flinch, fire had launched itself at the dragon and completely engulfed it. Winry went scrambling, quickly putting more distance between her and the extremely hot flame.

"Roy! What the heck do you think you're doing!" the young girl screeched, dropping all formalities with anger lacing her voice.

But then she noticed the flame die down and there sat Pyre in the middle of a charred circle scratching his muzzle, as if nothing had happened.

"P-Pyre?" Winry asked, wide eyed, while mentally slapping herself.

Of course he'd be alright; his metal had survived hotter temperatures than that.

"Protection against fire I see…" Roy voiced thoughtfully, while he removed his tattered glove and replaced it with a crisp new one.

Meanwhile, Pyre was clanking angrily at Roy, and in one particularly high pitched screech, opened its mouth wide and released a string of flames in retaliation. Needless to say Roy was slightly shocked, and had barely enough time to twitch his wrist to the side, sending the flames harmlessly away from him, but unfortunately they instead hit, and caught fire to his curtains.

Roy cursed again and with a wave of his hand put the fire out on his now very charred curtains, and then rounded on the small dragon.

To his dismay however, the dragon had already clamored over to where Winry crouched on the floor in her distress, and whistled softly to her in a frantic attempt to soothe her.

Winry stroked the dragon, finding it wasn't any hotter, and then scooped him up as she stood. She looked at the Fuhrer, who was standing with his back to her looking out the window. Her anger flared, and her crystal blue eyes flashed dangerously.

"Hey!" she snapped heatedly, "What were you thinking! You could have hit me with fire you jerk! Or caught the _whole_ room on fire! And what if Pyre melted? At least warn me next time! And don't think I feel bad about your curtains either! It serves you right!"

Roy flinched slightly.

_So maybe I could have warned her_, he thought idly, folding his arms.

Instead of pursuing the matter, however, he decided to take control.

"Rockbell!" Roy barked at the girl.

Winry jumped, startled by his sudden commanding tone, and went silent. The Flame alchemist turned and surveyed her for a second then went on.

"There are only two weeks before the next alchemist certification test. I suggest you start studying, as I expect you to pass."

While he kept his facial expression unwaveringly direct, he couldn't help but feel a bit of a chuckle on the inside.

_How the times have changed_.

Who would ever thought Winry Rockbell would one, work for the military, and two, take an alchemist certification exam, or even be qualified to take one for that matter.

The mechanic gaped at him, stunned.

"W-What did you say?" she asked, flabbergasted, her blue eyes wide. He must have lost his mind!

"Winry," he said, softer this time. "You created this," he motioned to Pyre, "That makes you responsible. In the wrong hands, it could be very dangerous. No one else has made this, this living metal. But because of its nature, only a certified alchemist will be allowed to deal with it, understand?"

"You-you mean I'd have to give him up? Unless I take the alchemist exam and pass it?" Winry gulped, catching on fast.

Roy nodded causing Winry to pale.

"But I'm not an alchemist! I was the one afraid of alchemy when Ed and Al performed it when we were kids, I can't possibly become one like them. Never in my wildest dreams-,"

"Winry, alchemy doesn't just involve transmutation. There are also alchemists who devote their lives to research, instead of the practiced alchemy like most the alchemists you've been exposed to. I assure you, you won't be clapping your hands or tattooing circles on your skin."

"I know that…but, I never thought that I'd be-I mean, it was Ed and Al, always, not me!" She stuttered, grasping for some excuse to get her out of the situation.

This was just too bizarre! How could it be possible?

"If you are that against becoming an alchemist, then I'll have to find new caretaker for the dragon. It's of course up to you Winry, but I'd rather see you as caretaker than someone else. I think you'd be perfect for it honestly, since it seems to trust you the most after all."

Winry's heart swelled at the compliment, though slightly hidden in what he said, it was still there.

He wanted _her_ for the job over an experienced alchemist. He had also trapped her into a corner with only one way out. She had to go through with it now. His honor and hers were now on the line, not to mention the thought of giving up Pyre was not a happy one. She had grown rather attached to the little dragon in the short amount of time they had been together.

Trying to look as determined as she could, Winry met the Fuhrer's eyes. "What do I have to do?"

Roy smiled.

That is, until Pyre spit another fireball at him.

* * *

Ah, I love Roy! Too bad its funny giving him a hard time once in awhile..hehe. Thanks for reading and please review!

Next chapter: still debating... either a look at Ed's life or Winry preparing for the exams

--Miss Soupy


	6. Familiar Faces

A/N: Well I'm finally back with a new chapter, very sorry for the wait everyone. I just needed a little break to get my thoughts together and after a little bout of writers block I think I'm good to continue. I've actually got the next two chapters written as well, but I'm not gonna post them all at once so I can give myself more time to continue with the story.

Disclaimer: nope, don't own it.

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Ch. 6: Familiar Faces

_THRUMP THRUMP THRUMP_

"Hey are you up yet?"

Golden eyes shot open and stared blearily at the ceiling. He had the feeling that something important had happened, something that balanced at the edge of his dream memory and his sleepy mind was desperately trying to grasp it back.

_A transmutation circle with a fanged creature, jaws gaping, tongue lashing out…_

"Hey lazy! Get up already!"

The knocking was even more persistent now, and all other thoughts fled as Edward Elric sleepily staggered out of bed.

"Cut it out already!" Ed barked as he opened the door with a hard yank.

As he peered out, the rays of light streaming in made him squint as his sensitive eyes took in the sight of the tall form of Alfons Heiderich who was smiling down at him. Ed frowned and rubbed his eyes, trying to rid himself of the last plagues of sleep.

"Rough night?" Alfons asked cheekily, causing Ed to scowl and push past him into their small kitchen where he helped himself to a cup of coffee.

"You look like a mess at any rate," Alfons said, taking a seat at the table and taking a healthy bite of toast.

Ed merely grunted and downed the coffee. "What are you so happy about this morning anyways?" Ed looked at the tall blonde suspiciously, a blonde eyebrow raised.

"No reason," Al shrugged, finishing his breakfast and cleaning up his dirty dishes, conveniently not looking Ed in the eye. "I want to head in early today, so if you could be ready soon, that'd be great."

It was Ed's turn to shrug indifferently as he padded back to his room.

"Give me 10 minutes."

Al turned and smiled, "I'm leaving in 5."

The race was on.

As Al and Ed walked side by side through the soon-to-be crowded streets, Ed was once again struck with how different this world was to his own. It was as if now he always walked through a fog. The colors were dull compared to the vibrancy of Amestris. Even food seemed to taste different; blander than what he remembered it being in his world. But no one else seemed to mind, and Ed felt a small amount of pity for them. They would never know how good it could be.

Another thing Ed had to get used to was the cold weather. He didn't care much for it, especially when it caused his joints in his prosthetic arm to squeak and protest at every movement. The arm his father had made for him was a stand able substitution, but it was nothing compared to his automail. This only seemed to prove further that Winry was in fact a genius of her trade.

Oh how her head would expand at that comment!

Ed had allowed his body to be put on autopilot while he walked the same path he took everyday to the lab he and Al worked in, letting his thoughts wonder to another life and time where a blue-eyed girl reprimanded him with a wrench while a suit of armor watched and laughed from a safe distance.

So engrossed in his own thoughts was he, that he barely registered the fact that Alfons was heading down a side street the two didn't usually take to work.

"Hey, why'd you…?" Ed began once he realized where he was and looked curiously to the taller boy.

"Just a slight detour, there's something I wanted to check out," was Al's only explanation as he pulled the shorter blonde along.

"I thought you wanted to go in early!" Ed yelled, exasperated at how strange Al was being.

"I wanted to go early so I could see this."

Al stopped and pointed to a starch white building that seemed to be under construction. There was wax paper in the windows signaling the need for paned glass, and only half the roof seemed complete. Seeing a cross perched on a pointed steeple, Ed realized that the building was a church.

From their vantage point at the top of the street, Ed could see the frame was set in an odd way. In the center of the roof a large circular opening was left, as if something was going to be inserted. A large crane lifted a disk shaped piece that seemed like it would be placed in the opening.

"See that opening in the roof?" Al asked as if reading his thoughts, and Ed nodded in reply. "Special stained glass was shipped from France to put in there. It should be really beautiful when it's done, don't you think? I haven't seen any other church to have its stained glass in the ceiling. It's very revolutionary."

"Yeah, I guess it is," Ed replied with a yawn. As interesting as it was to Alfons, he really didn't see what the big deal was.

Sensing his disinterest, Al's mood soured.

"Aren't you ever moved by anything but science!" Al exclaimed, his blue eyes flashing.

Ed started at this statement, angering at first before his features saddened as that far-off look he sometimes got fell upon him. This caused Alfons to immediately wish his words back. He couldn't stand when Ed got like that, it was just so depressing.

Ed turned away to continue watching the construction, seeing how bits of light caught the picture etched in the glass and caused it to sparkle. But Ed wasn't really paying attention, his thoughts running away into his memories. Memories of three little children playing in the rolling hills of the country, of sparring with a large, creaking suit of armor, of watching the soft glow of a setting sun fall across a blonde, blue-eyed mechanic as she tinkered with his automail.

Al's face softened as he watched Ed, and he had opened his mouth to apologize when Ed answered him.

"Not anymore," was the man's soft reply, but after a moment he went on. "We should get going or we'll be late to work."

Al nodded and followed quietly behind, hoping beyond hope Ed would be in a better mood when they reached the lab.

Luckily for Al, the day continued on normally as they boys kept busy with their rocket research. Al was the hands on technician, while Ed worked out all the formulas and both boys did research.

The work was interesting to Ed, and he held a glimmer of hope that a rocket could be made that could possibly send him home. If it were up to him, he'd work well into the night on these projects and the whistle signaling days end came all too soon.

Pausing in the middle of one rather large equation, Ed looked up to see Al telling him to pack up. With a sigh, the blonde put away his papers in an accordion folder and set them away until another time.

Ed put on his coat, careful of his fake arm, and then joined Al at the door. Their stomachs growled fiercely as the two made their way to the usual pub they ate at after work. Neither Al nor Ed could cook, so most of their meals had to be taken outside of their home, and this pub had the best food for the best price.

As the boys neared the pub, a man was coming out, and looking up the lamplights glowed against the visage of the officer who looked like Maes Hughes.

Ed flinched reflexively at seeing a dead man alive, but then kicked himself for thinking that. He had to constantly remind himself that this was not the Hughes he had known in his world. This Hughes was more serious than the other Hughes, and definitely not one to throw pictures of his daughter in a persons face.

"Evening boys," the officer greeted with a tip of his hat. "Heading in? There are some good specials today and Burkes is training a new waitress. Poor girl…be sure to be nice to her. I'm sure she's having a hard enough time." With a final wave the man was on his way and Ed and Al entered the crowded tavern.

Barks of laughter reached their ears and the boys jostled their way to the crowd to get at their usual table, throwing a greeting to the pubs owner, Burkes, as they went. Being frequent customers had guaranteed a friendship with the portly man.

After sitting down, Al picked up a menu and scrutinized it with narrowed eyes.

"Why don't you just get your usual?" Ed asked with exasperation but Al shook his head.

"I want to try something new. You know, mix it up. We can't all be as fearful of change as you."

Ed scowled at this remark turn his attention elsewhere as he surveyed the crowd of people eating, drinking, and laughing.

"Evening gentlemen. Are you boys ready to order or should I give you a minute?" a sweet voice called from beside the table grabbing Ed's attention. Slowly he looked up into vibrant blue eyes.

_Those eyes..._

The girl had a sweet face and long platinum blonde hair that was pulled into a bun. Her pale complexion caused her bright blue eyes to stand out beautifully, even against the drab colored dress and apron she wore.

Ed was speechless.

He couldn't move or even breathe as the girl smiled captivatingly at him. His heart pounded terribly against his chest as his mind tried desperately to start up again, but no matter how hard he tried only one word appeared which he uttered in a rasping whisper.

"Winry…"

By now, Al was watching the exchange with interest while looking from Ed to the blonde waitress. While the girl looked generally startled, Ed seemed ready to pass out.

"Hey, have we met? How did you know my name?"

The girl was looking at Ed with clear confusion and Ed didn't seem capable of speech so Al decided to interject for his friend.

"So your name's Winry? That's a pretty name… I think we'll need a few more minutes to decide if we could."

The waitress looked at Alfons and nodded, giving a fleeting glace to Ed before leaving the table.

Once Al was sure the girl was gone, he leaned over to whisper fervently to Ed.

"Hey! What's wrong with you!"

Pushing back his menu Ed abruptly stood, almost knocking his chair over in the process and mumbled something about needing air before stalking out.

Feeling the cool night air hit his burning cheeks, Ed's mind began to process normally once more. Now that the initial shock of seeing a Winry look-alike had worn off, new emotions began to fill him, anger being the prominent one.

_Why did I have to get so worked up over seeing her? It was just Winry…a Winry look-alike._

Ed shook his head in annoyance, and then he heard Al approach from behind.

"You alright?"

Ed nodded dully while staring at the pavement below.

"I'm not going back in there."

The finality in Ed's voice shocked Al, and he knew not to argue. It wouldn't get him anywhere.

"Did you know her from somewhere?"

Al hoped he wasn't crossing the line; he knew he was balancing dangerously close given Ed's current state, but he felt it was worth a try to pry some information out of the stubborn blonde.

"Yes and no…" Ed answered cryptically, finally daring to look up at Al's confused, yet worried, face.

"How so?" Al coaxed, stepping next to his friend.

Ed hesitated a second and rubbed his chin absentmindedly but then relented.

"I've told you about my world, and how you look like my brother."

Al nodded while mentally sighing, _Not another story…_

"Well, I knew a girl that looked just like that waitress. She was a good friend to me and my brother. We grew up together. Her name was Winry…"

Al paused a moment while he absorbed this information.

"Her name was Winry too. Maybe it's her?"

"No," Ed began, shaking his head. "My Winry couldn't be in this world. Besides, there are some differences between that girl and the Winry I knew. My Winry's hair was a little darker blonde and she wasn't that pale. Oh, and her eyes were a brighter blue…"

Al chuckled softly causing Ed to make a face at him.

"That girl was pretty cute, but by the sound of it _your_ Winry is even better looking?" Al teased, grinning broadly.

"How should I know! Besides, I bet that girl is a lot nicer than the Winry I knew. The Winry I knew was evil and liked to throw things at my head, force me to buy her things, _and_ make fun of my height. Not to mention she was a stupid automail junkie!" Ed replied heatedly, crossing his arms.

"Wow," Al said with awe lacing his voice, "I'd like to meet this girl."

"Forget it!" Ed spat angrily while clenching his fists.

Suddenly, is face saddened and his shoulders slumped in defeat.

"You can't. She's still back in my world. I won't ever see her again, or my brother…"

After being around Ed for a few years, Al had gotten somewhat used to Ed's little bouts of depression when he thought of his previous home. While Alfons wasn't sure if he could buy this 'other world' story, he did realize Ed must have had a _very_ scarred life. Al had hoped that one day he would unlock the mystery that was Edward's life, but he knew doing something like that would take a lot of time and patience. There were some things that Ed was just not ready to talk about and he respected that.

"Come on Ed, just have a little faith and believe in the impossible."

Seeing Ed's skeptical look, Al slung an arm around his shoulders. "Come on, I think we can find something to eat at home."

Once again Ed allowed himself to be propelled forward by Al.

But no matter what he did, he couldn't seem to shake the apprehensive feeling that had settled over him.

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A/N: So how was it? Hopefully not too boring. I think I'll continue switching off between Ed and Winry, though not necessarily every chapter. Oh, and I want to thank everyone who reviewed! Your encouragement helped pull me out of my block!

Next Chapter: **Surprise, Surprise**: Winry begins studying for the state exams and a familiar boy makes his appearance. Meanwhile, strange visitors arrive at Central. What could they want?

--Miss Soupy


	7. Surprise, Surprise

A/N: Well I'm here for my weekly update (I'm really gonna try to keep up with a new chapter ever Sunday).

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA!

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Ch. 6: Surprise, Surprise

The next few days consisted of Winry practically relocating to the library. She had a lot to study if she was going to pass the State exam and she had been ordered to put everything aside till the examinations were over.

For the hundredth time, so it seemed, Winry wished that she had the studying ability the Elric's had. It would make things so much easier for her if her mind was as absorbent as theirs always seemed to be. She herself was more of a 'hands on' type of person, not one to just sit around quietly reading.

Winry pressed the large volume she was currently reading closer to her face, as if the proximity would help her mind absorb the material more efficiently.

All it really did was make her read crossed eyed.

In a strange way, Winry actually enjoyed the studying. For some reason she felt closer to Ed this way, hidden in the shelves of the large library, flipping through volume after volume, thinking that Edward had been here doing the exact same thing years ago.

The test, as time consuming as it was to study for, wasn't really something she worried about however. What worried her most was the applied part of the exam.

She had to do something with her specialty. But the only thing she had done was _accidentally_ create Pyre.

At first she had been worried about how she could study and keep the dragon under wraps, but that worry quickly evaporated. It seemed somehow Pyre understood he was the remain quiet for the time being, and stayed out of trouble as he practiced flying around the secluded section Winry studied from. After only two days of studying, she even wasn't all that shocked when she found the dragon reading a book.

Its fire breathing continued, which confused Winry because he hadn't done something like that till after he ate that glove. Besides the fire, there were the metal needles and other strange scraps the dragon could spit out depending on what was in its belly.

Winry also found that it shed flaky metallic scales, which she made sure to collect. She collected everything that she could, and waited for the day an alchemist would come examine the dragon.

In the meantime, Roy had pointed Winry in the right direction for how to go about studying for the exam. Roy had given her personal use of one section of the library to study, for there were actually many students using the library with the upcoming exam.

Letting out a tired sigh, Winry went to put her current book back on a shelf. She stood there reading the various titles on the spines of the books, trying to decide which one to read next.

She was so absorbed in her search that she didn't hear someone approach from behind. It wasn't until two arms encircled her waist and a face pressed against her back did she realize someone was there.

Her reaction to the sudden intruder was an elbow in the gut.

"Ow! Geez, Winry, that really hurt!" came a pained voice, and Winry wheeled around to face the culprit.

"Well that's what you get for sneaking up on me," Winry snapped, watching as Alphonse Elric clutched his sore stomach.

The boy gave her a guilty look and then straightened, running a hand across his hair nervously.

He was a good foot shorter than the tall mechanic and his brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail. He had on the Fullmetal's signature red coat and black pants with boots, not to mention the white gloves. His eyes were a darker gold than Ed's, and Al's features somehow seemed softer as well. Other than that, however, he was a very good imitation of his brother.

"Sorry Winry," he apologized delicately, not wanting to anger her further, "I couldn't believe it was you at first and I just wanted to surprise you."

"Some surprise," Winry replied dryly, her hands on her hips. "Maybe if you actually told me where you were going, I wouldn't need to be surprised!"

Alphonse gulped. She was mad now. He knew she would be and he knew his skull would pay for that in the end.

"I'm really sorry Winry, but it was short notice and I didn't—,"

"I don't want to hear any of your excuses!" the blonde snapped, her anger rising dangerously. "You two are both the same. Neither of you want to tell me anything, you just leave. No note, no goodbye, nothing! I'm the one who has to pay for that because I just sit and worry the whole time."

By the end she was so livid she was shouting and people passing by were giving her dirty looks. Deciding that the library wasn't the best place for her to rant, she grabbed her bag and stormed past a hurt looking Alphonse.

Standing at the top of the steps outside the library, Winry tried to collect herself the best she could. She didn't like yelling at Al, but all the worry and pent up emotions of the week had called for an explosion. It had been only a matter of time.

The only problem was that Alphonse was someone who would take it all too personally. He'd be giving her that sad guilty look for days now.

"Winry?" Al called softly from her side making the mechanic cringe at how cautious he was being.

By the time she could face him again her demeanor was back to normal.

"Hey, what were you doing in the library anyways?" Winry asked, proud at how level her voice was now.

Al blinked a few moments in surprise before he explained, "The alchemist exams are coming up and I have to re-apply. I thought I'd get a head start on studying since I was in the area."

"I see. And did you…," Winry hesitated a moment before continuing with her question, "Did you find anything?"

Al didn't need an explanation, for there was only one thing she could mean.

Watching the people mull about the busy sidewalks of Central Al shook his head. Winry nodded in understanding and allowed her gaze to follow Al's.

"In a way, I'm kind of relieved." When Al turned to look at her curiously, she continued, "I mean, I don't want you to do all of the work. Even though I have a good position, I still feel I'm doing the least to help."

Even though she couldn't see him, she knew he had on a look of disbelief, and when he tried to grab her hand she pulled it away in shame.

"That's not true Winry! You work just as hard as I do! Ask anyone and they'll say the same."

Winry sighed sadly, letting her arms drop loosely to her side, and when Al reached for her hand again, this time she didn't pull away.

"Don't worry Winry, we'll find him."

Winry remained still, watching people walking about and cars going by. She didn't know if Al was right, but she felt comfort regardless. When he squeezed her hand gently, she even had the courage to return the pressure.

"Hey Win," Al began moments later, "What were you doing at the library anyways?"

_Crap._

Startled, Winry blushed, looking around frantically for some kind of distraction, which happened to come in the form of a spiky haired blonde a ways away.

"Hey look! It's Major Havoc! Let's go say hello!"

With that she was bounding down the library steps, a surprised Alphonse in tow.

"Hey Havoc!" Winry called, hurrying up to the smoking man, who was taking his post lunch cigarette break just outside Central's large oak doors.

Startled by someone loudly calling to him (not to mention that the person happened to be very female sounding) Havoc nearly choked on his cigarette.

Frantic that she had surprised the poor man, Winry tried to aid the man the best she could by patting him on his back.

Seeing his last cigarette on laying on the sidewalk, Havoc's mouth opened in a horrified silent scream. At the moment he was torn on whether to yell or blush or cry, so he settled with gaping.

"Sorry Jean, I didn't mean to startle you. Smoking is bad for you, anyways." Winry added, seeing as the cigarette now lay wasted on the ground.

She had called him by his first name because she liked to be as informal as possible. It was hard for her to remember all of the ranks the military had, and she found it strange talking to her friends using titles. The hardest part for Winry had been to stop calling him 'Mr. Jean'. It was an odd habit when she was younger to refer to him that way, and it had taken mental preparation to stop herself from continuing using the name.

How embarrassing for her, not to mention him, if she had called him Mr. Jean in front of their co-workers! Winry shuddered at the thought.

"Uh, it's ok. Don't worry about it Winry," Havoc managed, taking one last tearful look at his last smoke before straightening up. "Hey Alphonse. Back in town for the exams, huh?"

Al nodded in reply, stifling a chuckle.

"How are you today Jean?" Winry asked politely, trying to change the topic from that of the exams.

She didn't want to take the chance that Havoc would let it slip she was studying for them too. Being one of the Fuhrer's best friends, she guessed he was informed of the situation.

It seemed that Havoc was finally able to regain his composure enough to speak normally and uttered an exhausted sigh. "Busy as usual. Boss seems to be in an extra fowl mood today, so beware."

His eyebrows snapped together, his fingers poised to snap in a perfect mockery of the Fuhrer as he shouted, "You're all fired!"

Al and Winry doubled over in laughter at the great impression while Havoc held his dramatic pose, eyebrows wriggling comically.

Their fun was cut short, however, when Havoc was almost plowed over by a frantic Sciezka coming through the door. Somehow, the man was able to catch her before she hit the ground, and promptly stood her upright. Winry reached a steadying hand out to her.

"Are you alright Sciezka?" she asked worriedly, seeing the terror-filled look on the brunettes face.

The girl shook her head numbly and fixed her glasses which had gone askew in her short flight.

"I think I really did it this time! He was so upset…I thought I was done for!" Sciezka rambled, latching on to Winry's forearm.

"What? Who's upset?" Winry asked, her brow narrowed in confusion.

"The Fuhrer!" Sciezka shrieked, sending pigeons nesting on a building nearby scattering.

Winry and Al twitched.

"I told you he was moody today." Havoc grimaced, rubbing his soar ear.

"What'd he do?" Al questioned, looking obviously interested in the turn of events.

Sciezka gulped and let a haunting look fall over her face as the others huddled around her to hear.

"So there I was, minding my own business when I realized the mail had come in. Trying to be helpful, I decided I would take it to the Fuhrer's office personally, to make sure he got all his mail. You know how important the mail can be after all! In the wrong hands who knows what could happen?"

"Focus Sciezka," Winry reminded her impatiently and the other two nodded in agreement.

"Oh, right. So, I went to his office and handed him the mail, and he sort of grunted in response. A thank you would have been nice, but anyways, he was flipping through it and stopped at one particular envelope."

Her voice lowered dramatically so that the other three had to lean in closer to hear her continue.

"A strange look passed over our dear Fuhrer's face and he clearly started sweating. I was at once concerned for his health, but I wasn't sure if I should bother him or just leave." Sciezka sighed and her face fell. "I decided to ask if he was alright. And he just yelled that he was fine and that I should get back to work. So I ran out of there. Who knows what would have happened if I had stayed!"

Winry looked worried because of the strange reaction from Roy, who normally was patient with most things, even the overly cautious Sciezka.

Havoc looked sympathetic and understanding, having seen this behavior before.

Al looked dumbfounded at the strange story which wasn't really all that scary to begin with.

Winry patted the bespectacled girls shoulder comfortingly.

"Don't worry Sciezka, I'm sure Roy didn't mean it. He must be having a bad day or something."

"Winry's right. Don't worry too much--," Havoc began before freezing completely. His eyes widened when they fell on a black, expensive looking vehicle that was pulling up at the bottom of the steps.

"Who's that?" Winry asked incredulously, seeing the man's strange reaction and turning her attention to the car.

Alphonse too seemed to sour considerably, his blonde brows creasing and his lips pulled down in a frown. Sciezka looked just as confused as Winry.

"So that's why…" Havoc muttered to himself, as understanding passed over his eyes.

The seriousness that had fallen over the group thoroughly scared Sciezka to the point were she was trembling and clutching Winry's arm so hard that it hurt. When Winry saw that Havoc had paled considerably, she felt herself growing afraid as well.

As one, Winry and Sciezka scuttled behind Havoc (Alphonse wasn't quite tall enough to hide them effectively), peeking around him to see who or what it was coming out of the car.

Havoc looked awkwardly over his shoulder at the two cowering females and couldn't help but feel pretty good with himself. He'd never seen _Mustang_ fearlessly protect two women! Ha!

_Havoc, you sly dog_, he thought to himself with a grin.

"Don't worry ladies, I'll protect--,"

"Hello," came two voices in unison, efficiently causing the four to shiver.

The voices were cold and expressionless, bone chilling to the point they seemed almost _inhuman_. Four pairs of eyes whipped around at the sound, fearful of the creatures that could have produced the noise.

Standing on the pavement before them were a boy and a girl, twins, with dark hair and pale skin. They were smiling, and yet it didn't reach their eyes, which seemed very haunted.

Winry gulped.

Their eyes! She had never seen eyes like that before. They were pale, past the point of gray. They were white eyes, almost like the blind had. Winry wondered if they _were_ blind.

"What are you two doing here?" Al's voice was hard and his eyes narrowed dangerously and Winry was shocked to see Alphonse act so commanding.

"Why hello Alphonse. It's wonderful to see you again." The twins said in unison, bowing.

This only seemed to make Al even more tense as he fisted his hands at his sides.

"You shouldn't be at Central. This isn't your station."

Two smiles grew bigger, the girl's was more of a smirk, and they laughed softly.

"Oh Alphonse, but we do have a reason for coming." the girl said taking a step closer, but Al held his ground.

Winry readied herself for quick action, grabbing a wrench from her pocket. She wasn't about to let these weird people hurt Alphonse!

"Roy Mustang requested help, and we have come to fulfill that request," the boy explained, closing his eyes.

The girl allowed her eyes to fall on Al alone.

"Are you frightened Alphonse?" she asked, playing with a strand of her black shoulder length hair.

Al stiffened but didn't reply.

Havoc cleared his throat loudly, gaining everyone's attention.

"So you're here in response to the Fuhrer's letter?"

The two nodded.

"Alright then, follow me, I'll show you to his office." Havoc reached for the door and held it open for them.

The two followed with that same smug look, but when they were in front of Winry, the girl paused.

"You will be needed," she said, her colorless eyes seemingly looking through, rather than at, Winry.

Her eyes widened and looked to Havoc for an answer. He merely twitched his head to the side, signaling she should go in, and she and Sciezka quickly obliged, Al bringing up the rear.

Once inside, Sciezka quickly excused herself, giving Winry an apologetic look before she practically sprinted away.

"Come on Winry, better not keep the Boss waiting." Havoc said behind her, putting a hand on her back. Winry could do nothing but allow the man to guide her away down the hall.

When Al went to follow Winry, Havoc shook his head and Al stayed where he was, watching Winry be guided down the hall.

If she would have looked behind her, she would have seen Al's confused face turn into one of set determination before he disappeared out the door once more. As it was, Winry was too caught in the fact that she _really_ didn't want to be in a room with these strange people.

_Why me?_

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A/N: I really love Havoc, he's such a great guy really, and so much fun to torture! I'm starting to notice most of my chapters are a bit cliffy...I guess I -subconsciously- like keeping readers in suspense or something ;; haha sorry about that...just trying to keep the story interesting I suppose. Thank you to everyone who are sticking with me and my strange story and thanks for your reviews! Keep em comin'!

**Next chapter**: Underneath the Underneath: The two newcomers meet with Roy and Winry and and prove they have some interesting abilities. Could they shed some light on the mysterious dragon's origin?

--Miss Soupy


	8. Underneath the Underneath

A/N: sorry I'm late, but I'm in the middle of my first bout of exams and its a bit time consuming, to say the least. But, in my defense, I made this chapter longer than it was originally going to be, so maybe that makes up for the lateness. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed writing this chapter and I'm pretty proud of it, and I hope you enjoy it as must as I do. Granted, my whole story is just odd, and this chapter does not fail to be, but I still like it.

P.S. I couldn't help but to use a smidget of Naruto for the chapter title. It seemed to fit perfectly.

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA, but I do own my OC's, whether they like it or not.

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Ch. 8: Underneath the Underneath

"Sir? Sorry, but the Twins are here in response to your letter."

"…Welcome, Iris, Timbre. Ah, Winry, good. That's all Havoc."

"Yes sir." A salute, small smile to Winry, and Havoc was gone.

Once again Winry found herself in an extremely undesirable situation. The boy and girl were looking at her oddly, and she looked reflexively towards Roy.

"Roy Mustang, you seem well," the girl, Iris, said unemotionally as Roy approached and offered them a seat on his leather couch, while he and Winry took the couch opposite the siblings.

Winry couldn't help but notice Roy flinch in irritation that the girl didn't use any titles. Even Winry, who hated titles, knew when they were necessary, and she felt anger bubble up at the girl's lack of respect.

"Sister, show some respect to the Fuhrer," the boy, Timbre, chided, bowing his head. "My apologies Fuhrer, Eye of the Flame."

_Eye of the flame? What does that mean?_ Winry wondered to herself. These two were the strangest people she had ever seen. What could they possibly want with her?

"It doesn't matter," Roy spoke, waving a hand nonchalantly. "There are more important things to worry about."

"Your dragon," the girl commanded, "We are very interested in it, please show us."

"Iris!"

"I want to _See_ it, brother."

"You must be patient."

At the mention of Pyre, Winry had clutched her bag tighter where the little dragon was being hid. She felt the spot where her hand was pressed begin to warm, and she felt a little braver. Roy looked her way with a worried look and Winry smiled smugly at him.

"Amazing…it actually can breathe," Timbre said, causing Winry to jump in surprise.

"Y-you can actually hear him?" Winry asked in awe, her blue eyes wide.

The boy chuckled faintly and nodded. "My name is Timbre, you may call me Tim, and this," he gestured to the girl, "Is my sister, Iris. We are alchemists normally stationed in the north."

"I'm Winry, Winry Rockbell," the blonde offered.

"We know who you are." Iris stated coolly, her eyes unreadable.

"I sent a message to Brigadier Armstrong requesting the help of an alchemist to study the dragon in depth. The Twins have come in answer to that letter. Iris is called the All-Seeing, Tim is the All-Hearing. Their alchemy involves sight and sound," Roy explained, resting his elbow on the couch arm and putting laying his chin on the back of his hand. "I am curious as to why you two were sent when just about any alchemist would do. You two are a bit more…_specialized_, for something like this."

"We wanted to come, so we did," Iris replied.

Her brother continued, "We got permission from Brigadier Armstrong."

"I see." Roy scratched his chin idly. Winry noticed an annoyed look cross his face, but he covered it quickly.

_So that's why he was in a bad mood today. I would be too, knowing these two were coming, _Winry thought wryly. She'd have to explain this to Sciezka later.

"Better get to the examination then. Winry, go ahead and show them." Roy's voice was gentle when addressing her, but the tone was demanding so Winry did as she was told and opened her bag, calling the dragon out.

Being given the opportunity to finally leave the stuffy bag, Pyre wasted no time in untangling itself from the bag and sat demurely on Winry's lap observing the others in the room with glinting eyes.

Iris leaned forward on her seat anxiously, her arms outstretched invitingly to the creature. Pyre however didn't take the bait and instead snorted smoke at her and swung its neck around to rattle at Roy.

"Hello again," Roy drawled, eyeing the dragon suspiciously.

In response, Pyre extended its neck and snapped at Roy's hand, which was moved to safety just in time. Roy had become the dragon's favorite plaything, and would always try to get an attack in when the alchemists' guard was down.

"Put it here on the table," Iris demanded, her black brows snapped together. "I need to see it closer."

Winry hesitated. "You won't hurt him, will you?"

Tim smiled grimly and spoke, "We won't hurt it. I doubt if we even could if we wanted to."

Pursing her lips, Winry decided to go ahead and fulfill Iris' request and placed Pyre down on the table between them.

"Brother…," Iris murmured, holding out her hand which Tim took in his own.

Iris closed her eyes and with her other hand, pointed a finger and traced patterns over each closed eye. Then, with two fingers, pressed into each eye causing a transmutation circle to light up signaling the use of alchemy.

"My sister is the All-Seeing Alchemist." Tim explained, seeing Winry's confused look. "She can sharpen her eyesight with alchemy. But with everything, it comes with a price. We can sharpen one sense, but in return we dull a different one. She will be nearly deaf in exchange for inhuman eyesight. She will also be unable to speak, but because we are twins we can communicate to each other through other methods. I will be her voice while she examines the dragon."

Winry mulled this strange information over and then asked, "Does that mean you can make your hearing better because you are the All-Hearing Alchemist?"

Tim nodded and looked down to Iris. "We are ready to begin."

With that, Iris opened her eyes, which were now shining with light, a golden outline of a transmutation circle present in her bright orbs.

Pyre let out a low growl at the strange glowing eyed girl, but didn't attack, which Winry was thankful for. He was now hunched down, his wiry muscles tensed and his long tail wrapped around his body as if to provide some kind of protection. But he didn't lash out, merely stared back determinedly.

"The dragon is completely made of metal," Tim started, speaking to Winry and Roy. "Its hide has abnormal patches of color which come from metal it eats and is absorbed into it. Anything it digests seeps into the metal, and gains its characteristics. The metal, like you guessed, Fuhrer, is protected from alchemy, probably because it is, in a sense, alchemy."

Tim paused, his brow furrowing slightly and his eyes closing as he seemed to relay something to his sister before speaking again.

"She says this creature is just as alive as we are. The cell's in the metal work just like they do in a living thing. The metal stays flexible enough for movement through the use of alchemy in the form of a fire around its stomach region. It has veins, like we do, that transport this alchemic fire to all parts of its body."

Iris reached down on the table and picked up a flaky piece of skin that had shed off of the dragon and examined that as well.

"Any metal that detaches from its body, she says, will keep the same characteristics, but will lose its flexibility until heated."

"Fire in its belly? So, that's the reason it can shoot fire I suppose," Roy voiced thoughtfully, causing Winry to jump. She had all but forgotten the man beside her because he had been so quiet throughout the whole process.

Tim closed his eyes briefly and then answered, "The fire in its belly is not one that could be normally sparked into flame on its own. However, there is a catalyst in its stomach, a certain material that can produce the spark needed for fire to shoot forth." Tim allowed a small smile to pass over his lips as he finished. "It seems it's the same chemical present in pyrotex ignition gloves."

Winry had to quickly cover a grin with her hand when she realized what had happened.

The Flame Alchemist visibly twitched in irritation, feeling no need (nor desire) to explain.

"It has a remarkable ability to use materials it comes in contact with, wouldn't you say?" Tim offered, his eyes dancing.

"Apparently," Roy mumbled, tugging on one of his gloves to be sure. "It seems it's quite apparent what this creature can do, but how was it made?"

Another pause, and then, "From what you told us in your letter, this is a mix of auotmail and, what we now know to be an alchemically altered metal. Brigadier Armstrong has been looking into this matter, and has found rouge alchemists black marketing metal that is able to, in a sense, grow. With the use of a special circle, 10 grams of metal can become 100 grams on its own by the mere duplication of matter. This is then sold, or pirated in this case, for the use of weapon making for a cheap price."

"So that's why it was so…odd," Winry mused aloud.

"Of course, a substance such as this would normally have no reaction when encountering something like automail. Iris says that this was no ordinary automail, however, which is why it reacted so…violently."

Winry felt eyes boring into her as she looked pointedly at the floor, her cheeks flushing a light pink in embarrassment. This was NOT something she wanted to discuss with these two strangers. Heck, she had barely been able to tell Roy, and he was someone she was normally comfortable with.

"Though we have never met him, it's only natural that tales of the Fullmetal Alchemist reached our ears. Yes, the rumors of a boy with metal limbs and a brother trapped in a suit of armor stroked our interest like so many others. We however, though interested, decided to remain out of that particular adventure. You on the contrary, Miss Winry Rockbell, were an important player, were you not? The mechanic of the boy who restored his brother, and then disappeared leaving no trace, no less."

Winry nodded and said quietly, "Yes, I was his mechanic."

Pyre whistled comfortingly, as if sensing her sadness, and crawled into her lap. Winry smiled sadly down at it and patted its head.

"His automail alone could have done this. It was against all odds that this alchemic metal and the automail of a powerful alchemist came together to form the dragon. Only an automail used in transmutation could have caused this. Edward Elric was known for doing just that: using his automail to perform alchemy, even without using circles."

"Even when he's gone, he still manages to cause trouble for me," Roy sighed.

Winry nodded, concentrating on the lights dancing across the dragon's back rather then the clenching of her heart.

"You should have just let him go. Nothing is gained from dwelling on things you cannot change."

Winry's neck snapped up and saw Iris looking at her. The girl's eyes, though still nowhere near normal, had returned to their usual, non-glowing white.

"Who said I haven't let him go?" Winry replied, her teeth gritted in anger. How dare this, this, _stranger_, tell her what she should and shouldn't do! She was in no position to judge!

Iris remained silent, but her mouth was cocked in a miniscule smirk.

"Lightning and alchemy brought life to the lifeless, a commendable feat none-the-less. But I must wonder why it took this particular shape, or perhaps that is something that will remain a mystery."

Tim was looking strangely at Winry, and she put a stopper her bubbling anger in order to ponder this. Her eyes scanned the large office as she thought, but then caught on something.

It was some kind of plaque, Roy must have won an award for something, but the picture etched into its glossy black surface was a transmutation circle. It was one that she had seen numerous amounts of time, and though she didn't know what that particular circle did, she realized it must have been a powerful one. In the center was a clawed creature with its mouth open showing jagged fangs.

_Time seemed to slow in that moment and Winry's gaze momentarily landed on her military notebook. On the cover was a transmutation circle with a dragon etched in its center, strong jaws opened wide in what had to be a fierce roar, claws pawing the air. The picture of the dragon appeared in her mind until pain seared through her hand where the glove had once been._

"The transmutation circle," Winry pointed at the plaque on the wall as she explained. "I had a book open and I saw a picture of that when I was hit by the lightning. The picture was in my head…and the lightning hit and I was touching the metal." Winry held her head in remembrance of the strange feeling. It was almost as if something else had been seeing her memories.

The others nodded in silence, each entertaining their own thoughts for a time.

At least now she knew more about Pyre, but now what could she do? As she thought, a whole stream of opportunities popped into her head. This metal was the most amazing stuff she had ever seen, and she was the first to use it! That was amazing enough in itself, but from what she had learned, every little scrap that came off of the dragon would have the same properties. Idea's flooded Winry's mind of the possible things she could make with this living metal. Stars dotted her eyes as she thought about how incredible her automail would be. She would make the best automail in the world!

"Well this certainly clears a lot up. Brigadier General Armstrong was right to have sent you," Roy complimented standing. The Twins stood and bowed.

"We will be staying here until after the examinations," Iris voiced coolly, walking to the door, ignoring Roy's offered hand.

Tim took it instead and shook it firmly. "Thank you, sir. We will continue to look into this matter during our stay here. We will let you know if we learn anything else." He turned and followed his sister out, but paused. "By the way, there is someone listening at your window." He smiled and was gone.

Winry stood and watched Roy cautiously stride towards his window. In one quick motion, Roy flung the window open and looked around suspiciously, his body hanging halfway out.

"Hmm…," Roy mumbled deeply.

Winry came up behind him and peeked over his shoulder. Roy's office was on the top floor, who could have been listening outside the window this high?

Movement caught the corner of her eye; a flash a red was seen at the corner of the roof and was quickly gone.

Roy didn't miss it either and he mumbled curses under his breath as he slammed the window shut, causing Winry to jump.

"Looks like you will have to tell him," Roy said, giving Winry a knowing look.

The blonde sighed, nodding her agreement.

_Looks like this will be a long walk home_, Winry thought smugly.

------------

Winry sent a sideways glance over to her walking companion who was being unusually quiet. Of course, she knew the reason for his silence, but when she started to feel guilty about it she remembered how many times she had worried about him. Certainly she had worried over him more than he had ever had to worry over her. Now he could see just how it felt!

Feeling slightly sadistic at the moment, Winry decided to wait him out. If he wanted to know what was going on then _he_ _could ask_.

Allowing herself into her apartment, Winry didn't spare Al a glance as she went about turning on lights and scrounging the fridge for food.

Al closed the door behind him and hesitated, sending a glace over to where Winry was hidden behind the refrigerator door before shrugging off his red coat and hanging it up on the coat rack. Den appeared near his hand, tail wagging, and Al gave a few distracted pats to the dog's head before making his way to the kitchen.

Clearing his throat, Al tried to force start a conversation. "So, uh, Winry, what kind of projects have you been up to lately?"

"Oh you know, the usual," was her muffled reply from behind the door before she pulled herself up, apple in hand, and kicked the door shut.

Taking a healthy bite, she looked past Al to where Den was inspecting the bag Prye frequented and where the dragon was currently trying to extract itself from.

"Ah, I see. So no interesting projects or…anything?" Al tried, oblivious to what was happening behind him.

Tapping the apple against her cheek thoughtfully, Winry replied, "I wouldn't say that exactly."

"Oh?"

"Mmm," she agreed before her eyes narrowed at the boy dangerously. "But why would it matter anyways?" She had wanted to say _matter to you_, but she held her tongue. Al knew very well how she felt about his frequent disappearances.

And just as she expected, his eyes softened with guilt and his face fell. "Winry, don't-"

"Listen Al, why don't you just tell me what you really want to know? I'm well aware you were eavesdropping." she cut in, trying not to let her anger get the best of her. Her fingers itched to send a wrench into his skull.

Al blinked. "You knew? I thought I had been really sneaky too…"

"Ha! You shouldn't eavesdrop on a room full of State Alchemists in the first place," Winry scoffed causing Al to grin.

"A room full of alchemists is the _best_ place to eavesdrop," Al corrected with an impish grin and Winry couldn't help but grin back. It was always hardest for her to stay mad at Alphonse. Edward on the other hand…

"Still, Roy wasn't very happy."

"That's alright. I think he'll understand that I'm just trying to look out for you, Winry. Really, what's going on?" he looked at her, his light brown eyes all seriousness and worry and Winry shook her head in amusement.

"Finally you just ask. I was starting to think you'd dance around it all night. Though, you probably would have seen him eventually while you are living here again."

"What…do you mean?"

Without a word Winry pointed over Al's shoulder. Turning to look where directed, Al let out a yelp of surprise before backing himself away from the couch where Pyre sat, intently watching the pair.

"Wha…wha…what is that!"

"_That_ is Prye, a living metal dragon. I made him."

"But…_how!_"

Winry sighed and moved to sit on the couch, patting the cushion next to her. "Come here. It's a long story so you might as well make yourself comfortable. And don't make that face! He won't hurt you!"

-------------

The two talked well into the night, which wasn't surprising because they hadn't seen each other for awhile. Al heard from Winry all about the making of the dragon, the visit of the two strange alchemists, and her new mission to become a certified alchemist. Winry in turn heard all that Al had been doing recently, all the places he had visited and that he still didn't have any new leads towards finding his brother. It was rare that Alphonse would tell her so much about what he had been up to, and Winry wondered what had brought about the change.

She didn't think he did it because of the guilt, because that had never been a reason for him to talk. Then she thought he did it in exchange for all she had told him, but then again he probably would have found out on his own anyways.

Therefore, she concluded, Alphonse must be getting desperate. With no leads to finding Ed, things were started to look bleak, and who but Winry would understand how hard it would be to face the reality that perhaps Ed could not be found?

Winry studied Al for a moment and saw a weariness in his eyes she had missed earlier.

_He's starting to give up_, she realized with a start, suddenly frightened. If Al gave up then…would she have to keep searching on her own? Would she want to? Winry didn't know if she wanted an answer to those questions.

"Wow, you a State Alchemist? That's just really bizarre, no offense, but you _hated_ alchemy."

"I know," Winry sighed, "But I don't have a choice because I was kind of _ordered_ into it. But Roy says it won't be like what he does, it will be more of a research based title. I just have to pass the written test and then show the council something to do with this metal I guess."

"Will you just show them Pyre then? That seems easy enough."

"Well that's what I thought I'd do, but I don't know, maybe I should do something new? You know, really show them what this living metal stuff can do!" Winry pumped her fist in the air dramatically and Al nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, you could really show them something."

Winry slumped back against the couch and frowned. "But I have no idea what to do, and I don't have long to come up with something."

"Don't give up Winry," Al chided, playfully tickling her side and ducking the punch she threw at him because of it. "I'll help too. Between the two of us, we'll come up with something."

"Thanks Al," Winry said, sending him a grateful look before letting out a weary sigh and looked out at a blank spot on her wall. "I hope everything goes alright. I thought I knew my place in life, but I keep getting pulled down the roads I never thought I'd travel. I have to wonder if I'm being sent closer to, or further away from the things I want the most."

Al was silent for a moment and then he was reaching out to wrap his arms around her waist while his face went to rest against her neck.

"We can't know where our roads will lead us…all we can do is keep traveling until one road ends and a new one begins and just hope that our road crosses with the one we are looking for."

Winry moved to return Al's embrace, allowing her arms to encircle him comfortingly, tightly, as if to make their wills one, even while a tear rolled down her cheek.

_Will our roads ever cross with yours again, Ed? Would you even care if they did?_

_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

A/N: I love the Al Winry interactions, I find it rather cute..sigh. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this strange chapter and perhaps you feel a little more informed about things?

Oh, and for those who are interested Iris and Timbre have names based on their abilities. Iris of course being a part of the eye, and a Timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound that distinguishes different types of sound production or musical intruments. So there WAS a reason behind their names, and I feel proud of myself for coming up with that. (Ok, so Wiki helped a little...)

**Next Chapter**: Not the One: Ed struggles with encountering the alter Winry more frequently as he tries to hold on to his previous life and identity.


	9. Not the One

A/N: Yeah, ok, I know I'm late again so I'm not going to make a set date for posting because when I get busy I can't keep up with it. Sorry! But school comes first. Oh, I'm so happy the page line was fixed..niiice...anyways..

Disclaimer: don't own FMA!

* * *

Ch. 9: Not the One

It would be a week before Ed felt he could once again eat at their usual pub.

Well, Ed really felt he could hold out for say, the rest of his life, but after Al's constant –nagging- persuading, he eventually had to give in. Still, Ed held some hope that the girl wouldn't be there, for it was a bit later in the evening than when they usually showed up for dinner. But, it seemed the blonde's poor luck followed him even here, for as soon as the two entered they caught sight of a blonde blue-eyed girl. Even worse, in Ed's opinion, she remembered them.

"Have you two had enough time to think about your order? It's been about a week I'd say." the other Winry said, blue eyes dancing with laughter.

Al smiled and retorted with, "I'm not sure, we might need to take another week to figure out what we want to drink, right Ed?"

Opting not to reply, Ed grunted and scowled into his menu. His new found strategy of the night was to order, eat as fast as possible and leave. He derived that it was in fact the safest route for him. He just hoped everything went according to plan, which of course, he knew deep down that it wouldn't.

Still, Ed couldn't help but feel slightly proud of the fact that when he ordered his voice stayed even and when the waitress smiled at him he didn't blush (much).

In fact, the meal went smoothly, and it wasn't until the two were ready to leave did they hit snag.

"So how was everything?" the other Winry was saying as the boys were paying for their food.

Al gave an enthusiastic "It was great!" while Ed replied with a short "Fine".

Allowing his attention to rest solely on the counting of bills, Ed left Al to talk to the girl until…

"Oh, do you think you boys could do me a favor? My shift is over now and the other waitress I usually walk home with isn't here tonight. Do you think you could walk with me to my flat? I just don't feel comfortable walking alone."

Ed's head snapped up as Al was answering, "Of course we'll walk you home! We wouldn't want you to walk alone at night anyways, right Ed?"

"Uhh.."

"Thank you so much!" Winry broke in as she rushed away to get her things. "I'll meet you outside in a minute, just let me get my coat…"

Ed waited until they were outside to round on a clueless Alfons.

"What the hell? Do you enjoy torturing me or something?"

Al raised a questioning eyebrow. "How is walking someone home considered torture?"

Frown deepening, Ed whispered heatedly, "I already told you-"

"I know I know," Al began, waving his hand in an efforts to calm the shorter blonde down. "You had a childhood friend named Winry. But hey, you never know, maybe she _is_ that Winry. So what if her hair is a little different? Hair can change color as you age. Didn't you say your hair used to be a darker blonde or something?"

Ed ground his teeth together in annoyance and fisted his good hand in Al's jacket. "You don't understand, she's not-"

"Is everything alright?" asked a feminine voice approaching the two fighting boys.

Pulling away from each other, Al moved towards Winry while Ed followed reluctantly, pointedly looking elsewhere.

"Yeah, everything's fine," Al assured her when she looked skeptically between the two.

Ed found himself at the receiving end of a threatening look from the taller boy and didn't hesitate to return his own scowl.

"Thank you again, for doing this. Its not far, I promise," Winry voiced, leading the way.

"It's no problem, we don't mind." Al replied with a shrug.

Winry raised an eyebrow before looking over her shoulder at Ed who had yet to speak.

"But he doesn't seem too happy about it."

"Him? He's just upset because you remind him of someone."

"Al!"

"Oh?" Winry asked curiously, tilting her head to the side. "Who do I remind him of then?"

"His old girlfriend, her name was Winry too."

"She wasn't my-!"

"You don't say? That's interesting…"

"Well fine, she wasn't his girlfriend, but some childhood friend. Perhaps it's really you?" Al wondered, looking at the blonde girl.

"I told you she's not-"

"No, I didn't live here when I was a child, so it couldn't be. I'm actually new to this city."

Al's face fell slightly, his hopes of finding some connection to Ed's past completely destroyed. "That's too bad."

"I'm sure she misses you too, Edward." Winry voiced sympathetically, turning to look at Ed who continued to trail behind.

Ed shivered reflexively, hearing her say his name. It caused old memories to echo within his head and he didn't like it.

Her voice was too sweet, too kind, the voice of a stranger. It didn't hold the note of familiarity that the Winry he knew did. It was so odd being around the girl. It was Winry's body and Winry's voice without her personality, without her soul. It was alien and strange but because they were so alike physically, he worried he could forget what his Winry.

It had been startling in the beginning, with Alfons, but really he was quite different than his brother. He only knew his brother as a child, and Alfons was a teenager.

"I doubt it." Ed said truthfully, feeling his spirits drop.

The words had flown out of his mouth before he even knew he was speaking. It was as if the guilt and doubts flew from his heart to his tongue in one completely honest moment.

Winry cocked her head to the side as she asked, "Why would that be? You seem like a wonderful person to me."

She said it with sweetness and honesty and Ed felt himself feeling even worse.

Sighing, Ed left it at, "It's complicated."

He had made it painfully clear he would not be talking about the subject any longer so the three slipped into a casual silence. Thankfully, moments later the trio arrived at the apartment building Winry lived in and after graciously thanking them, she disappeared inside Ed and Al finally made their way home.

The boys didn't so much as utter a word to each other as they went to their separate rooms. Clearly the two were still at odds, but Ed wasn't worried. By morning Al would be out of his funk and things would be back to normal. As for himself, well, he was usually in an off mood anyways, so it wasn't anything too abnormal.

Gratefully plopping down on his bed, Ed crossed his good arm behind his head, and stared up at the cracked ceiling. He hated the moments he wasn't able to work, because those were the moments when he would have to remember.

Oh, how much easier it would have been for him to lose his previous memories upon arriving in this world; to just forget and live for himself only.

Frowning, Ed wondered if he could even do that.

Live for himself?

Most of his life was spent for his family. When he was a child, his only desire was to keep his mother happy and watch out for his little brother. Then his mother died and he had worked to bring her back.

The one moment he had been selfish in life had destroyed everything.

After that he lived to get Al's body back. From the beginning he hadn't really cared about what happened to himself, but he had told Al he was working for the both of them so he wouldn't worry. Now, he still wasn't able to just settle because of his desire to make sure his brother was alright.

He was sure Winry would watch out for him, but knowing his brother, Ed knew he'd be working to get him back just like he was working to go back, even if it wasn't what he wanted Al to do.

Sighing, Ed closed his eyes and turned to the side. He had been having strange dreams lately, or at least he was pretty certain he had been. As soon as he woke, the dreams would scatter and disappear almost completely from his mind, leaving him remembering only small pieces of what they had been about. He did know they all seemed to revolve around a strange dragon creature and many times Winry, but he certainly didn't know what to make of that.

With a heavy heart and fatigued mind, Ed finally allowed himself to be pulled into a sound sleep.

------

The next morning Ed found himself alone in the apartment. Because it was Saturday, the lab was closed, but Alfons had an aerodynamics convention in another city and would be gone the whole day. But, not-so-luckily for Ed, he hadn't neglected to leave behind a list of things for Ed to purchase at the market.

This would be the reason Ed found himself trudging home, his arms full of groceries with his patented scowl firmly in place.

"Why is it Al always has a convention on shopping days?" Ed was mumbling to himself as he walked past an alleyway. "Sneaky little-"

"Get away from me!"

Ed's head shot up and his heart rate quickened after hearing the panicked yell. Dropping his groceries to the ground, Ed backtracked towards the sound. What he found was a trio of dirty looking teenagers crowding around a frightened girl who they had cornered in the alley.

"Get the hell away from her!" Ed yelled automatically, rushing towards the nearest boy, his arm pulled back ready to let the punches fly. Apparently though, the boys had had enough and instead of staying to fight, hastened away down the alley leaving Ed staring disbelievingly at their backs.

"Well that was easy," he deadpanned and looked to the girl who effectively made his jaw drop.

"Luckily," the alternate Winry agreed with a smile. "Thank you so much though Edward! You really saved me!"

That said, the girl promptly threw her arms around the shocked blonde in a grateful embrace.

"N-no problem," Ed stuttered before stepping out of the embrace, while his face betrayed him with a blush.

_Not Winry, Not Winry…_, his mind droned over and over, as if saying it would make him feel any less awkward than he already was.

"Oh, but it was very brave of you! Please, there must be some way I could repay you."

She placed a hand on his arm and the chanting in his mind became louder.

"No, don't worry about it," Ed said in what he thought was a polite voice. "I have to get going, I dropped my groceries a ways off." He indicated with a jab from his thumb and turned to leave but was stopped.

"Oh! I could help you with those perhaps?" Winry moved in front of him in the direction he had indicated and all Ed could do was follow.

Picking up one of the bags, Winry waited as Ed picked up the last two.

"Well…thanks," he offered, as the two began walking.

Winry offered a warm smile. "You're welcome of course. Oh, but where is Alfons today?"

"He's at a science convention for the day. While I'm left to do the shopping…" Ed explained, his voice betraying is disdain.

Winry giggled. "Alfons gets to have all the fun I take it."

"Yeah, I guess." Ed replied, shifting the bags in his good arm to a more comfortable position. Winry watched him with interest and Ed raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Oh, it's nothing….Just that…you get along very well with only one arm."

"I've had plenty of practice." Ed replied nonchalantly while shrugging his shoulders.

Winry nodded in understanding and asked tentatively, "I see…um, was it always like that or…?"

Ed hesitated a moment before replying, "I was born with two arms, if that's what you were wondering. I lost it when I was a kid by making a stupid mistake."

It was a line he was used to giving out. He liked to use it because it was the truth without revealing too much about his past.

"I'm sorry." Winry said softly, and Ed knew she really meant it by the sadness in her eyes.

"Don't be." Ed shrugged again and gestured towards the bag she held. "Here, this is the place so I'll take that."

"Oh! Here you are," she started, handing it to him. "Well thank you again. Take care Edward."

He nodded and the girl turned and left and Ed was finally able let out a sigh of relief.

Heading up the steps, Ed shuffled the bags around so he could fish his key out of his pocket. Sticking it into the door, he found that oddly it was unlocked.

_I know I locked the door when I left…_, he thought, his face tightening in apprehension as he put the bags down and pushed the door open.

A voice greeted him from the sitting room and Ed froze.

"Ah, you're finally home Ed. You know it's not polite to keep your company waiting so long."

* * *

A/N: Yes, a shorter chapter this time, and maybe next time too. The bigger plot is happening in Amestris at the moment, but Ed is important too so we'll just have to deal with short chapters for now, hehe. Please review! I need reviews to stay motivated, seriously.

**Next Chapter**: Equations: Ed has a visitor who brings dire news that affects both his fate, the fate of Earth, and the fate of Amestris combined.

--Miss Soupy


	10. Equations

Ch. 10: Equations

"What the hell are you doing here old man?"

From across the room Hohenheim's face fell. "That's no way to speak to your father!"

Ed's response was a grunt as he moved to retrieve his bags left on the steps outside.

"Start acting like one and maybe I'll treat you like one," Ed called, shutting the door and moving to the kitchen where he began putting things away.

Hohenheim merely smiled and moved to help Ed unpack. "Where is Alfons today?"

"He's at some convention for the day," Ed replied offhandedly, scowling at the bottle of milk he was transporting to the ice box.

Hohenheim hummed in understanding and voiced, "I'm sure he will enjoy it then. And, it will give us a chance to catch up. Isn't that wonderful?"

Narrowing his eyes, Ed frowned at his smiling father.

"What happened?" Ed asked suspiciously. Hohenheim didn't visit often, but when he did it was usually bad news he carried.

"Can't I just visit my son?" the bearded man tried, his voice lined with innocence that held no sway over Ed.

"No."

The man eyed his stubborn son for a moment before finally giving in. "Fine then, lets just get it out and over with."

Ed couldn't help the dark feelings that settled over him as he tried to prepare himself for the information he was about to receive. The two had decided quite awhile ago that they worked better separately, mostly because Hohenheim liked to keep most his secrets to himself and Ed found he didn't want to be around him extended periods of time. While he had _mostly_ forgiven him for being gone so much throughout his life, there still was the slight resentment for making his mother worry.

He guessed Hohenheim still held a certain amount of guilt over his past. Ed knew he would, and did, and therefore supplied that his father was probably not that different.

In the end they were all they had; the last physical evidence of a life they used to have. And they would work together till the end to try and get back what they lost. Even if they did things separately, they kept in touch and Ed knew if needed, his father would drop everything to help him out of any jam.

After helping himself to a cup of coffee, Hohenheim took a seat in the other room and Ed followed suit, sitting in a chair opposite the bearded man.

"I still haven't been able to locate him because I still have no idea what form he may be in. However…," he paused, setting his cup aside and leaning his chin against his interlocked hands. "Now there are even larger problems rising."

"What now?" Ed asked wearily, his face falling.

"The alters." came the blunt reply and Ed stiffened. "I've been seeing more of them. Their frequency of appearance is increasing, and this worries me."

"Who…?" Ed prompted, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

Hohenheim leaned back to scratch his beard thoughtfully. "My most recent encounter was with an alternate King Bradley, though, I must say this fellow was more peace loving thankfully."

_Even so_, Ed thought with a frown, _I don't think I could trust someone that resembled a monster like King Bradley._

"Well who cares? They are just look-alikes, it doesn't matter does it?" Ed tried hopefully, even while deep down, he doubted his own words.

"Look-alikes that are appearing more often is evidence that it _does_ matter, Edward." Hohenheim corrected, shaking his head. "Between us, we have encountered nine alters, half of which we saw this year alone."

Ed sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Ten." he amended before looking away.

"Ten?" Hohenheim blinked, his mouth tugging down into a frown at the news.

"I sort of…saw another alter just this past week."

Ed hadn't wanted to breach this topic with his father, at least not while he was still trying to deal with it himself. Knowing his father, he'd want to know _everything_. Of course, he therefore wasn't all that shocked at his father's next question, though he couldn't say he was happy to hear it.

"Oh? Who was it this time?"

For a brief moment, Ed selfishly wanted to lie, to say it was someone else, but then the moment passed and his rational self knew he had to tell the truth.

"Winry." he said quietly, but he was happy to hear evenness in his voice.

Looking over to him, Hohenheim's eyes softened as he nodded in understanding. He could remember how awkward it had been when they first met Alfons, and no doubt Ed would have had similar trouble meeting a girl he had been friends with all of his life.

"Ah, I see. And what's her story?"

Ed shrugged and toed the rug beneath him with the his boot. "She's working in the pub nearby. Al and I eat there a lot, and one night she was just there."

"Is she originally from Munich?" Hohenheim questioned and Ed frowned in confusion.

"No, I don't think so. Why?"

"It's one thing for the alters to just live here originally, but for them to come from other places, even other countries, to this place is too much of a coincidence."

"…what are you saying?" Ed wondered, furrowing his brows as his mind tried to put everything together.

"I'm saying that they are being drawn to us. Things happen to lead them to where we are." Hohenheim replied, and Ed couldn't help but note a certain weariness about the man.

"Why? Why would they be...drawn to us?"

"I…am not exactly sure, but I do have a theory." the man began, pushing up his glasses before starting. "This world is connected to Amestris, but usually both places work independently of each other. Or at least they _did_ work independently. That was until Dante and I began experimenting with the Gate. I'm sure you remember when you saw the Gate for the first time?"

Ed nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, how could I forget? I saw so many things, most of them I didn't understand at all."

"Images," Hohenheim agreed, closing his eyes briefly as if remembering them. "Images we could not understand because they were not of our own world. And there was a pull, wasn't there? A desire to know the truth."

With a shudder Ed nodded again while the memories made his stomach knot painfully. He felt nauseous as an image of a door and hollow eyed creatures presented itself in his mind.

"The truth was behind the Gate…" he whispered, his yes locked on the rug below.

"Yes." Hohenheim agreed, his voice calm and under control and Ed couldn't help but envy him. "The truth behind those images was behind the Gate because they were images of this world. It wasn't the kind of understanding we were looking for, was it? Learning about a different world is much different than having real knowledge. But, that really is beside the point." Hohenheim finished with a lighter tone and Ed couldn't stop himself from choking on his coffee.

"Would you get to the point?!"

"Oh, of course! As I was saying, we know the two worlds are connected. But then, we moved through the Gate and we began to affect this world. Think of it as a giant equation that is usually balanced. On one side of the equal sign is Amestris, the other this world. We were two variables subtracted from Amestris and added to the other side. That would cause an imbalance in the equation, and it would then try to equalize itself however it could. This world is trying to compensate for us and that's why we are encountering the alters. This world is trying to make itself resemble Amestris."

In his mind Ed could picture a giant equation with Amestris on one said and the Earth on the other. He could picture himself subtracted from one said and crossing to the other side through the Gate that kept the two sides equalized.

"So Amestirs would be affected as well?" Ed realized with a start, looking worriedly to his father.

Hohenheim rubbed his beard thoughtfully. "Probably, though I can't say how it is being affected. But it seems this side is heading towards a dire future, which may be caused by us."

"You mean the war? But you can't mean _we_ are causing a war!" Ed exclaimed, his eyes wide as he wished it to be untrue.

_It can't be…we couldn't have caused that much damage!_

"Indirectly, I believe we are. We are sending this world into chaos just by our presence. And whats worse, Amestris could face a similar fate from our absence. Don't you see? We sent everything unbalanced."

"It's not like we aren't trying to get back! What will happen if there isn't a way? What if it's impossible to get back? How will the balance be attained?" the boy cried, rising to his feet while his clenched fists shook.

Hohenheim shrugged calmly and replied, "The deletion of the problem would set things straight. Either we find a way back to Amestris, or…"

"We die." Ed supplied, his eyes darkening and his shoulders slumping hopelessly.

Why couldn't anything go right for him? Why did he always cause such problems for everyone?

"Hmm…luckily, this is just a theory!" Hohenheim brightened with a smile, his eyes crinkling.

Ed just shook his head and replied in a dry tone, "A theory that is probably right."

"Probably."

"How long do you think we have?" Ed finally asked, slumping down to his seat once more.

"It's hard to say at this point, but if a war does start then there is a good chance we will die anyways, unless we leave the country."

"There could be war in Amestris too." Ed pointed out with a shake of his head. "I should have just died like I had intended to. My life for Al's body and there wouldn't be any more problems."

Hohenheim looked sadly at his son. It wasn't something any father wanted to hear from their children. Their own child wishing they were dead…

"I imagine there is a reason for you still being alive Edward." he voiced softly but truthfully.

Ed snorted and shook his head in disbelief. "Pssh, yeah, to slowly destroy both worlds because I'm in the wrong place? Death would have been more kind."

"Death is rarely kind, Ed," Hohenheim said sternly. "It's not hopeless for you. I vowed to do everything to send you back, and I will. Did you ever think there could be forces working on the other side trying to get you back as well?"

"It would only cause more problems. I'd rather they just think I'm dead." Ed replied flatly and Hohenheim smiled.

"Alphonse can be just as stubborn as you when he wants to be, and I doubt he will believe you are dead until he sees a body. There's also Roy Mustang, who is very influential, don't make that face! Whether you agree or not he is a smart man who has no doubt been investigating the incident."

"Alphonse shouldn't worry about me, he should look after Winry. And Mustang, he only cares about being Fuhrer so I doubt he'd lose any sleep over me being gone. Just one less thing in his way." Ed argued, stubbornly wanting believe a man like Roy Mustang would give a care over his absence.

"You never know. The solution to getting us home could already be in motion, we just don't know it yet. Until things become clearer, we need to keep working like we have been."

"And what do we do about the alters?" Ed asked, an eyebrow raised in question.

"Not much we can do. I'm guessing they will continue to be drawn to us so we will cross paths with them more often."

"I've had too many run-ins with this other Winry as it is! I don't want it be become even more frequent!"

Hohenheim chuckled and placed his hand on Ed's shoulder. "Winry has always been headstrong. If this alter is anything like the real thing there's nothing you can do short of fleeing the country to get away from her."

"…Thanks for being no help at all!" the boy yelled sarcastically while his father just smiled.

"Of course. Well, I'll continue my search in the meantime. If her hear anything that you think is related to him-"

Flippantly, Ed waved a hand. "Yeah yeah, I know, I'll contact you the usual way."

"Good boy." Hohenheim replied, affectionately patting his son on the head as the boy waved him off. "I'm off, I'll check back her in a few weeks."

"Fine, whatever." Ed grumped as he tried to flatten his ruffled hair.

"Oh, and Ed?" Hohenheim called from the doorway causing the boy to look over. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

Face reddening Ed waved a fist in the air and yelled back, "I plan to do the opposite of what you would do!"

Hohenheim chuckled and waved, and then he was gone, leaving Ed watching the wood on the back of the door.

"Stupid old man…be careful."

* * *

A/N: Really sorry for the wait, but I hope the chapter was ok. I hope its easy to picture the whole equation thing. Its sorta how I view the two worlds and the gate, and it's very important for the story. I of course couldn't leave out our beloved Hohenheim of light. Oh, and about _him_, well, you'll just have to wait and see unless you can figure it out. Actually I imagine most will know right away, I'm not very good at being subtle /sigh/..

For the next chapter it will be back to Winry, though I haven't decided what all exactly will happen. So just stay tuned.

Thanks for the reviews and keep em coming!

--Miss Soupy


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